Against All Hope
by Human Chew Toy
Summary: A mysterious entity seeks single-handed revenge against Kenshin, and only a select few know why--excluding the entity. Will Kenshin pull through or be lost in a past darker than was ever imaginable? (Caution: Shinta's parentage is different! . )
1. Prologue: Dancing With Death

Prologue: Dancing with death  
  
A/N: I believe this will be a more serious Fanfic than my last one was, sorry if it lacks that comedy aspect that so many of you loved. I really don't know what's going to come of this, I was just suddenly hit with inspiration. Maybe it won't suck.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Ouch. That's like driving nails in my foot. Painful.  
  
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"Kenshin, can you watch the dojo today? I really don't feel very well." Kaoru said, her beautiful face drawn and gaunt. I could see she really felt much worse that not very well. "What's wrong, Kaoru-dono?" I asked, mentally kicking myself for adding '-dono' yet again.  
  
She'd asked me to stop that, and I was trying, I really was! It just wasn't happening.  
  
"Not much Kenshin, I just need to rest I believe." She'd replied, turning back to head for her room. I'd almost believed her, almost got caught up enough in her treachery to drop my guard. But then as she walked to her room, her steps began to fall less and less evenly, more and more weakly.  
  
I'd been doing the laundry at the time, pondering why I didn't tell her how I felt. Laundry just has that relaxing factor to it. You can think about things and not really pay any attention to what you're doing. When she'd turned back to me with that crazed, blank gaze in her eyes, I'd almost been surprised.  
  
Almost.  
  
But then again, that's what I get for letting my guard down. I should have been more careful. I'm sure whatever is wrong with Kaoru is my fault. Nothing would happen to her if it weren't for me. I suppose this is why I don't tell her how I feel. Nothing else seems to be holding me back.  
  
Kaoru is, was, and will always be the chief matter of concern in my life. I guess that's why her illness has struck me so hard. There's nothing I can do about it, no one can figure out what it is. Yet she seems to be dying, dying from the inside out.  
  
She'd given me that empty stare long enough for me to see that. She is much, much more than just tired. Something is very wrong, and I intend to figure out what it is. To save her life, to save my future.  
  
She means everything to me. Without her I am nothing. What could this be? And why is it attacking my Kaoru? I have so many questions, and so few answers. This could literally be the undoing of me. I've never felt such a sense of urgency, and I've never been much of a scientist.  
  
But I must for this. Kaoru must be cured. It's a matter of life and death, and not just hers. As I watched her fall, knowing I should catch her but unable to move, I'd never before felt such a shadow hang over me. What is wrong with her?  
  
I ask this again, and still I find no answer. Physically she SHOULD be healthy. Megumi has checked over and over again, finding nothing every time. It's as if this malignant force cannot be seen, can't be detected. But IT IS MOST CERTAINLY KILLING HER. I'd known this when I'd reached her chilled body, lifted her limp frame to rush for Megumi.  
  
Who found nothing wrong.  
  
I could scream with frustration at this problem. Not even my comrade's botched attempts at hitokiri assassinations had caused me this much grief. I MUST FIGURE THIS OUT. If I don't...no one will.  
  
Kaoru, my precious flower, light of my life, you must hang on. Please. If not for yourself, for me. I love you, even if I can't tell you. Please keep yourself alive until I can fix this. I know in time I will. But that I fear is something I don't have. Time. Pleading with death.  
  
How ironic, before it was I that had people on their knees begging for death to pass them by. But just like back then, I fear that death will be swift and unmerciful to Kaoru. Unless I can fix it. WHICH I MUST. Whatever has afflicted her will be eradicated. If it's the last thing I do...  
  
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A/N: Told you this one would be more serious. Let's see what happens in later chapters. This has potential. 


	2. Kaoru's Illness

Chapter 1: Kaoru's Illness  
  
A/N: Here's the first chapter, yay I finally wrote it! It may seem a bit redundant after the prologue, but it deals a bit more in depth with exactly what's going on here.  
  
Disclaimer: Did I mention nails before? They apply here too.  
  
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"Kenshin, can you watch the dojo for me today? I really don't feel very well." Kaoru asked plaintively. Lately she'd just been so busy, and it seemed it was taking its toll on her today. "What's wrong, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin looked up worriedly from his laundry.  
  
"Not much Kenshin, I just need to rest I believe." She responded, turning for her room. Kenshin went back to his laundry, treating each spot as a potential anti-Christ. 'Laundry is so relaxing.' He thought to himself.  
  
Subconsciously there was still a part of him watching Kaoru. Ok, maybe more than a part. State the facts, he was watching Kaoru. 'She doesn't quite look right, something MUST be wrong.' He thought.  
  
He almost called out to her, but she turned before he could. Her sapphire blue eyes were bleak and blank. The gaze that issued from them was just as empty; none of Kaoru's usual self-expression in them. "KAORU?" Kenshin shouted.  
  
Something was wrong. Kaoru's eyes haunted him. If they weren't so blank, so dusky and stormy, so turbid even, they would certainly be less disturbing. It was as if the real Kaoru was gone, leaving only an outer shell that someone-or something-else had taken over.  
  
Her body shook with convulsions; Kenshin watched helplessly as she twitched and writhed pitifully. What was wrong with her? And then, as suddenly as it had begun, her convulsions ended, leaving her standing shakily on her feet, eyes wild and crazed, hair tussled about her face, giving her an insane yet oddly vacant stare.  
  
'WHAT is going on!' Kenshin thought in horror. Nothing should be able to touch his Kaoru. At least, touch her and get away with it. Now it seemed as though something was not only touching her, it was HURTING her and well, Kenshin didn't like that. Nothing could touch her, she was his. "Baka, she isn't yours." He muttered.  
  
'Yet.' His mind added.  
  
Disregarding his wishful thinking, he called out again. "Kaoru." This time his authority rang clearly throughout the near deserted dojo lawn. Kaoru staggered, subconsciously she was trying to remain on her feet, but something was not going to permit that.  
  
Kenshin could tell by the remaining drabness in her eyes that she recognized him not. The shell of Kaoru quivered; her knees were beginning to bow to whatever was afflicting her. 'That can't be Kaoru.' Kenshin denied, even though the truth stared him in the eyes.  
  
Did she really not realize that it was him, or were the stormy clouds boiling in her eyes the telltale signs of animosity? Kenshin had never felt so helpless in his life, not even years before as he'd watched fellow comrades slaughter innocents.  
  
The possibility that Kaoru could hate him, well, that just was not something to be pondered. It was just simply not feasible. 'It can't be true. Something must be wrong.' "You." At the sound of Kaoru's voice so low and evil, Kenshin snapped out of his reverie.  
  
"Kaoru? Is that you?" Kenshin asked, even though the answer was obvious. It may have looked like Kaoru, but at that moment, that had not been the Kaoru he'd grown to love. "You. You will pay for what you have done. The lives you have taken will be atoned for with the life of this young girl you have grown to care for so much. Then you will truly know what pain feels like." Kaoru continued.  
  
"WHO ARE YOU!" Kenshin snarled. Even though the body was Kaoru's, the voice and demeanor were not. Kenshin was loathe to hurt it nonetheless.  
  
"I am nothing and everything. I decide her fate Battousai. Do not tempt me to take her now. Find an antidote, and she will live and you will be forced to find atonement elsewhere. Unless it is your wish I take her now."  
  
"NO!" Kenshin started forward, reaching out to Kaoru. "Ahahah, I said not to tempt me. Now you will feel the wrath of Hitomi Fuse!!!" Kaoru's knees collapsed. In the few seconds Kenshin was paralyzed with fear, he saw Kaoru through all the anguish.  
  
'She's still in there!' he thought frantically. 'It's just a matter of how can I save her this time.' Kenshin was at Kaoru's side seconds after she crumpled to the ground. Sliding his hands under her knees and head, he lifted her frail body. She's cool, cold even to the touch. Her temperature couldn't have been higher than 65 degrees.  
  
How she was still alive Kenshin had no idea. "I've got to get her to Megumi." Kenshin sprinted off in search of the foxy doctor. He knew he had to hurry, for Kaoru could not survive forever with such a low body temperature.  
  
"I'm sorry Kaoru. This is all my fault." Kenshin sobbed as he ran through the town. A long slow line of tears fell from the rurouni's cheeks to Kaoru's brow. 'If she dies...I'll never forgive myself.'  
  
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A/N: Woooo...how was that? Too serious, not serious enough? Kenshin seems to be coming off as idiotic to me. Anyone care to share his or her opinions? I don't mind at all. 


	3. The Black Rose Blooms: Battousai Rekindl...

Chapter 2: The Clinic  
  
A/N: Hehe, I'm writing by candlelight. Kind of archaic, ne? It's storming like a mofo outside, which would be a bad thing if Kaoru were here. She's not, I'm glad, everyone can be happy.  
  
But, if Sano, Kenshin and Aoshi were here, I would be significantly happier. ^-^  
  
Disclaimer: Ok, this is ridiculous. Is there really someone out there reading every single Kenshin fic, searching for a way to sue people? Tsk, tsk, what a sad, sad existence for them. Oh well, here go the nails. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.  
  
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Kenshin cradled his head in his hands. It'd been hours since he'd finally found Megumi. She'd ventured out to talk to him only once in the interminable wait, and that was only to ask him what had happened.  
  
Like he knew.  
  
He had no idea where Megumi had taken Kaoru, or if she were even alive. The latter disturbed him much more than the former. Surely five hours was long enough to keep him waiting! He needed Kaoru, needed to know if she was ok! He'd bet anything that witch was just holding Kaoru back there, hiding her from him to make him worry.  
  
She would pa-Kenshin forced himself to calm down, realizing that he'd shot to his feet. He couldn't, however, see his golden-eyed gaze glowing angry and acidic. He pried his fingers from the hilt of his sakabatou with sheer willpower. Sulkily, he flopped back into his corner, glaring around the small room as he pulled his sword from his belt and propped it against his shoulder.  
  
'Come on, Kenshin get a grip! You don't want to have to punch yourself in the face in front of these children.' He thought to himself. Closing his eyes he tried to tame the Battousai inside him that was howling for bloodshed. Visions of slaughtered patients, doctors, children and citizens flitted through his mind.  
  
The Battousai was exceptionally graphic today.  
  
Kenshin blinked, trying to force the unsettling images out of his mind. His eyes slowly faded back to their normal soft violet. Growling softly with frustration, the torn man sat again. He found himself staring at the very sharp side of his reverse-blade sword.  
  
His pale violets widened with comprehension. He'd somehow stood, drawn his sword, AND flipped the blade without anyone noticing. At least he hoped no one had noticed. He took a second to scan the room. The two elderly men, the mother and her two children, the young man, and the two middle-aged women stared back at him. Somehow this made him very angry.  
  
As he glared back at each of them in turn, they all quickly broke eye contact and studied their hands. Or feet. Or anything else that was handy or close by. Kenshin found himself wondering how they would scream if he hacked them into litt-Hold it!  
  
This wasn't normal. Kenshin didn't normally have murderous hot flashes. Evidently the whole Kaoru thing had worried him more than he thought. If that was possible. Kenshin sheathed his sword, heaving a slight sigh at the clean click as it entered the sheath.  
  
Even when he'd been a killer, the cold-hearted hitokiri, he'd never had a bloodthirsty yearning for manslaughter like his previous thoughts had just been. Taking a deep breath, Kenshin focused himself. He was calm, he would not-DAMN IT WHERE WAS SHE?!  
  
Kenshin didn't even have to guess this time. He knew he was standing on his feet, he knew he had his sword drawn, and he knew his eyes were amber. He just didn't care anymore. He was going to find Kaoru.  
  
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Megumi leaned against the wall that led to the outer room of the clinic. She was very, very reluctant to enter that room again. Especially if HE were in there. Kenshin scared her with that look. Well, technically he should be called the Battousai, but that really didn't matter now.  
  
She must go get him, treat him with the respect due to a great hero of Japan, and take him to Kaoru. Oh, but she didn't want to! She was afraid of him, much as she hated to admit it, even to herself.  
  
Then again, there was good reason to BE afraid of him. He was the Himura Battousai legendary hitokiri, the king of blood spray, murder, assassination, and death in general.  
  
There were too many to name, unless you had all day. 'OR!' Megumi thought, 'You needed to stall for some reason, because a very scary legendary killer is in your clinic waiting room.' So there Megumi stood, contemplating the various things that Battousai ruled.  
  
Outside in the waiting room, she heard a series of startled gasps, followed by complete silence. Not even the children were making noise. What on Earth was going on out there? Megumi slid the door open the slightest inch, and peeked out, watching the people.  
  
Whatever was going on had to do with Kenshin.  
  
Or Battousai.  
  
Or whatever other alter ego he had.  
  
Geez, he had so many it was hard to keep up with them all. Megumi craned her neck, trying to see into the corner where Kenshin had stationed himself on arrival. Megumi was immensely grateful she'd noticed his feral gaze and kept him in there, for she would have been too afraid to ask him to leave once they got to the examination room.  
  
'Hm, how to trap an angry Battousai 101.' Megumi giggled to herself. She'd always wanted to write a book. She just never had time. Medicine came first anyhow. Steeling herself to enter the room, Megumi lightly touched the shoji.  
  
And knew she couldn't open it. Not just yet. He was still Battousai; she knew it somehow. She peered through the slightly cracked shoji. All the people were looking down, as if they'd been frightened or chastised.  
  
She heard the light *shick* of a sword being sheathed. 'Oh god, if he's killed one of my patients I'll kill him.' Megumi thought without really thinking. She considered her last statement.  
  
'Hm. Miracle Doctor Slaughters Legendary Manslayer. Not a bad headline!' she giggled again.  
  
She really needed to stop cracking herself up. Someone might hear her! Megumi built up her confidence. This time she would go into the room. She could do it, after all, it's not like he was going to kill her.  
  
She turned to open the shoji and found herself face to face with none other than Himura Battousai. His wickedly sharp sword was drawn and flipped to the opposite side, making him very much lethal.  
  
"Take me to Kaoru." He growled, "If you refuse, I will kill you where you stand." Megumi's jaw dropped in astonishment. Knock on wood!  
  
It was as if Battousai had COMPLETELY taken over. Like he didn't recognize her! In the moments that it had taken her to go into this thought process, Battousai simply stood, leering at her suspiciously.  
  
"You. I have never been especially fond of killing innocent people. Especially women. Move, now." He snarled again. No, this definitely WASN'T Kenshin. No way, no how. The legendary hitokiri had resurfaced again. Gulping down her fear, Megumi started off down the long hallway.  
  
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A/N: Dude, I can't believe this. I never really meant for Battousai to have a part in this story, but well, heh, it seems no Kenshin story is good without him. He's just so sexy! *sigh*  
  
Anyhow, I hope I got into Megumi's character a little bit better, it seems that not many people develop her character. Don't get me wrong, there are a few, but most Kenshin stories focus on main characters, and the others are, well forgotten.  
  
I hope I can delve deep enough into each of my characters to leave you thinking about them. Oh, and there are some very, very interesting things coming up.  
  
I swear it. It will not be very happy things either, but you will hopefully start to see a very apparent darkness out of each of the characters. That is my main goal, I hope I don't screw up and get an angry mob with torches after me.  
  
Even though fire IS cool.  
  
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^See the Froggy? Follow him to the review button! He really wants to hear what you have to say! 


	4. The Playing Field for the Godly

Chapter 3: The Playing Field For the Godly  
  
A/N: Guess what! I actually have a plan for this chapter! YAY! Something is going to happen, something is going to happen, and I know what it is, yo-o- ou don't..yet anyhow. Lol, I have too much fun with these, you know.  
  
Heh, I'm talking on the phone, and writing and listening to music and thinking, and a whole heck of a lot of other things AT THE SAME TIME. Aren't I talented? Music is a good thing, you know that? I listen to it a lot. DUDE, if I ever get incarcerated for something, I could always say, "THE MUSIC MADE ME DO IT THE MUSIC MADE ME DO IT!!!"  
  
Hehe, I'll never get incarcerated though, cause I'm a good little person. ^- ^  
  
Ok, I've gotten a confused review, and I'm going to clarify this now. The following chapter has to do with Hitomi Fuse. She is the thing that was talking as Kaoru in the first chapter. This explains a little bit more of WHAT she is, WHAT she is doing, and WHY most of all. Plus...hehe.  
  
P.S.- I've been informed that in the last chapter, my Froggy looks like a spider. *shrug* At least it's a cute spider. Follow the spider, froggy, or whatever you want to call it, just so long as I get you to push that little |Go| button.  
  
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is not mine. But I can obsess over the characters. ^.~ KENSHIN IS MINE! *growls protectively* Actually, I'll just keep the Battousai. Ya'll can HAVE Kenshin. Tehe.  
  
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"Hey ya Hitomi, you might want to see this! Check out your channel 5!" called a drone from the back room. Hitomi paused in her nail work. She had most of her nails painted, should she jeopardize them by grabbing her remote?  
  
'Nah.'  
  
Sighing, she flipped the channels using her mind. The door to her spacious office creaked; someone had forgotten to knock. She raised an eyebrow suspiciously. There were very, very few people who could do that and get away with it. She continued flipping channels as she cast out her mind in search of the newcomer.  
  
She felt the cautious aura, tinted a light blue in her mind. Her brother. 'Why that arrogant son of a---!' he walked in front of her desk, the absolute picture of male perfection. "Fjork." Hitomi growled.  
  
Her television remote leaped off her desk and hurled itself at him. He quirked an eyebrow and the remote fell two feet short of its target. "Damn. What are you doing here anyhow?" Hitomi asked, her sugar and spice smile fixed once again.  
  
Hopefully he didn't know of her little game. If he had found out, he would want to be part of it too. That could have potentially disastrous consequences. Her brother was simply too kind-hearted for that. Manipulating people as a source of entertainment was not a good thing to him.  
  
That was why he'd never tried for the Elite. He felt they used the people for their purposes, when each should have their own free will. He was a dreamer.  
  
Their father, Dreiden, was very disappointed that only one of his children had bettered themselves enough to become part of the Elite. He didn't like the fact that the one child that HAD made it was female either.  
  
His beliefs were that a female's place was among the unborn, watching and nurturing so that each child would flower. Hitomi had grown up wit a major inferiority complex because of his "beliefs".  
  
When her mother had finally drawn her out of it, the result was Hitomi's instinctive dislike of the entire male species. The one male that could even get close enough to talk to her was her brother. Two years younger than she, Fjork and she had always been close, though they weren't related by blood.  
  
Fjork's real mother had abandoned him when he was only a few weeks old. To this day they still weren't sure who she was, and really, they didn't want to know. In the God/Goddess world, all that mattered was your power.  
  
Hitomi was a psychic Goddess, her telepathy and telekinesis surpassed only by the Voyridal himself. Fjork was an odd combination of the Music God, Nature Goddess, Water Goddess, and Psychic God, thus his abilities were far greater than Hitomi's. This irked her very much.  
  
Then again, Fjork just had that way about him. He could annoy her without really doing anything. But she still loved him. Much as a Psychic Goddess could love anyhow. None of the Gods or Goddesses up here really loved anyhow. Pairings were for pleasure; couples rarely got serious enough to join powers.  
  
Hitomi's father and Fjork's adoptive father Dreiden was a Storm God. He controlled the lightning, thunder, and could manipulate certain storm-like forces. In other words he was a God of Destruction.  
  
Their mother, a Dream Goddess, was the only one seen to be able to tame his wild spirit. That hardly accounted for anything, Dream Goddesses were known for their hypnosis. Anyhow, time for her to stop pondering her past and get back to the matter at hand.  
  
The best thing Hitomi could hope for was that her brother had just dropped by to chat, and not to confront her of her new discovery. "So, whatcha up to Sis?" Fjork asked, propping himself comfortably against the thin air in Hitomi's office.  
  
"Not much really, I've got a couple of paranormal occurrences this afternoon, an elderly couple's memories to erase, you know, the usual."  
  
"Ah.I see. Nothing, UNUSUAL going on?" Fjork grinned. He loved teasing his sister about her job; it was just so easy to get her riled up.  
  
"Fjork I swear one of these days I'll fry your ass." Hitomi replied calmly, looking down at her forgotten nails. "Why didn't you knock anyway?"  
  
"I didn't figure you would want me to let the entire Plane know what you've been doing." Fjork shrugged. 'Damn, so he does know.' Hitomi thought. 'But then why hasn't he said something?'  
  
"What do you mean, what I've been doing?" Hitomi said calmly, repairing the damage done to her index fingernail. 'Best to keep your cool and play innocent until he comes out and shows he really knows what you've been doing.' She thought to herself.  
  
"Come on Sis, you really think you could hide it from me? I felt the excitement in your aura the first time you figured out how to manipulate them! I've just been watching to see where you'd take it." Fjork smiled. "Damn it! How do you always catch me doing things I'm not supposed to!?" Hitomi ranted. "I bet you're a spy for the Others."  
  
Fjork backed away at the sight of her narrowed, angry turquoise eyes. "Ahhaha, no Sis, I'm not a spy!" he stuttered. Hitomi's eyes widened slightly. Fjork sighed. Those narrow little slits of hers scared him sometimes. One day she was just going to explode and THAT, my friends, would be the day, oh yes, THAT would be the day the heavens fell.  
  
"What if I said I didn't believe you?" Hitomi asked calmly. "You DO believe me, or you would have called Elite security by now." Fjork replied nervously. "Says who I can't deal with you by myself?" Hitomi replied just as calmly as ever.  
  
Her calm was scaring Fjork. The 17-year old prodigy was too good at shielding his aura to let her know that though. He was sure she was probing at his mind as they spoke, but since he lacked that one aspect needed for telepathy, he couldn't yell at her to stop it.  
  
Well he could, but spoken speech wasn't much for making a telepath give up. Fjork turned to the wide projection playing on the wall. "What is this?" he asked, trying to change the subject. "That is my little amusement project." Hitomi said, a smile splitting her face.  
  
'Geez, she's really proud of herself for learning to control them.' Fjork thought. He snorted. It was getting stuffy in here; all the commotion he was stirring up was triggering Hitomi's fiery instincts. He asked the wind for a slight chill, and instantly the room cooled considerably.  
  
"I was wondering if you were EVER going to do that." Hitomi called. Her back was to him. Evidently she'd teleported to the luxurious futon/couch in front of the screen. "Yeah, sorry, I was a little lost in my thoughts here." He answered, walking over to her.  
  
He rested his arms of the back of the couch, looking down at his lanky sister. She was quite the epitome of feminine beauty. Her long, curly, midnight black hair trailed onto the futon, a single strand she kept in her fingers, twirling it around her pinky. Her high cheekbones only accented her turquoise eyes, and her dainty lips were often pulled back into a pout.  
  
Fjork sighed. No time for those kinds of thoughts. "What's going on?" Fjork watched as the redheaded man's amber-eyed stare frighten the nearby citizens.  
  
"Well, right now his woman, that's who the girl he's carrying is, his woman was just visited by MWA! And, well when I left her body, she kind of collapsed, which I meant to happen, yet I didn't really, but at the same time.Oh, it's so complicated. You see, that man is the Hitokiri Battousai. Except for now he's taken a vow that he will 'never kill again'." Hitomi emphasized the last three words with finger quotes, loosing her hair from her finger. She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Right."  
  
"So, I've told him that unless he can find a cure for what is wrong with his "Kaoru" then she is going to die. But well, I can't really kill her because then the Voyridal would get suspicious, and that's not something I want. But, he doesn't know that. Anyhow, now he's gone all Battousai again, and I guess I'm going to help him stay that way by sending little grotesque images to nudge him over the edge." Hitomi looked up at her horrified little brother.  
  
"Oh now, what's wrong?" she asked sweetly, "Too violent for your tastes?"  
  
"No." he lied.  
  
"Right now he's taking her to the clinic, and guess what the doctor will find wrong with her! Absolutely nothing. Isn't this the greatest!" Hitomi giggled delightedly.  
  
She sat up on her couch and bounced gaily. "I'm so excited to see how this will turn out!"  
  
Just then Hitomi's pager beeped. "Hitomi, you're needed in Forensics." The voice intoned. She rolled her eyes. "People never understand the meaning of 'busy' around here." Getting up off her couch she turned to the door.  
  
"Feel free to stay and watch. But if I find out you've tampered with my game!!" Hitomi let the threat dangle. "Don't worry Sis." Fjork replied. He propelled himself over the back of her couch landing sprawled in the middle.  
  
"I'll just stay here and watch for a while." Hitomi smiled once again before sliding open the metallic door to the outside. "Be good." She warned. Fjork rolled his eyes. As soon as the door beeped shut again, he was on his feet.  
  
How was he going to let the Others know without endangering Hitomi! What she was doing was definitely not right, but he didn't want her to get hurt. He needed to think. The one place he'd always been able to do that was in the Terrarium. Now all he needed to do was contact the Others.  
  
On the screen an amber-eyed hitokiri jumped to his feet, much to the puzzlement of the surrounding patients.  
  
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A/N: HAHAHA! I like it. Even though it's spectacularly longer than the other chapters I've been writing, I'd have to say this is by far one of the more interesting ones. Now you understand more about Hitomi, and I've opened another door in your mind.  
  
Hopefully that is.  
  
Well, must go now, things to do, people to write, story ideas to ponder.  
  
/\( ;-; )/\ /\(`;-;`)/\  
  
^See the Froggy/cute Spider? Follow him to the review button, he really cares about you and wants to see how you feel! He's a psychologist. That other GIRL spider/frog got lots of help from him.  
  
See how happy she looks? 


	5. Ruminating Fear

Chapter 4: Ruminating Fear  
  
A/N: I'd like to thank all of you that have reviewed so far; I'm starting this chapter the same day as I post the last one. This chapter will actually be about Battousai/Kaoru/Megumi/whoever else shows up.  
  
HA! You thought I would tell you without you having to read? I'm not THAT stupid. Anyhow, I've decided this story was TOO dark for my preferences, and I accidentally brightened it a little. OOOOPS.  
  
Well, on to music listening and typing. Let's see what interesting things come out of my mind today. Oh, btw, Linkin Park, Offspring, Evanescence, Matchbox 20, Puddle of Mudd, Taproot, 311, The All-American Rejects, Seal, Alien Ant Farm, Invader Zim, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, Fountains of Wayne, Three Days Grace, Bowling for Soup, Five for Fighting, and Green Day are all to thank for my writing entertainment. They keep me company.  
  
Disclaimer: Seven years later he works as a slayer he murdered beloved and knows he's messed up. The technique never changes, just the bloody faces why can't he just let go and wander all around?! Did I just say that?  
  
P.S.- I don't own RK or Bowling for Soup. *cough* I lie. *cough*  
  
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Battousai stared at the frightened woman walking before him. Did she think he would strike her? Impossible. If she feared him, she would have complied with his request immediately.  
  
Surely she was simply being insolent. Closing his eyes to soften the anger burning in them, he sighed. Megumi flinched at the slight sound. Stopping in the hallway, she turned to Battousai. Fear colored her eyes, though she tried her best to hide it.  
  
Battousai noted this and smiled inwardly. 'She's afraid. Gooood.' It was best for people to fear him, he didn't have to worry about them that way. Megumi watched his eyes. 'He's gone. Kenshin is gone. There's no trace of him in there at all.' She thought.  
  
"Ken-san?" she asked timidly. Timidly? This wasn't her at all. Get a grip for Kami's sake. Battousai narrowed his eyes. AH KAMI! Those eyes again. If only he'd show a smidgen of compassion! A little caring, a little bit of humanity.  
  
But those cold, demonic, slayer-eyes pushed everything out of perspective. 'Why is she just standing there? And who the hell is Ken-san? She couldn't POSSIBLY be referring to ME?' Battousai thought.  
  
Megumi glanced around her. Where exactly was she again? OH yes, she was in the left hallway. But...Kaoru was in the right hallway. Oh no. She'd taken the wrong hallway. Battousai was going to be very angry!  
  
"You are a doctor. I'm sure you've seen organs before. Maybe even LIVE organs. And certainly you've seen organs outside of someone's body. But have you ever seen YOUR organs outside your body? If you do not wish to examine them, I would suggest you continue." Battousai threatened.  
  
'What to do what to do! STALL!' Megumi began walking again. Battousai silently followed. Soon they came to the end of the hallway. Megumi looked about as if confused. "Heh, heh, It seems we've taken the wrong hallway." She stuttered. 'Just don't let him kill me!'  
  
Battousai sighed again. Evidently this woman feared him more than he had thought. She was simply quivering with fear, all because she'd taken the wrong hallway. For about a minute he stood there, pondering her panic. Then he pushed his way around her and headed back down the hallway. He would find Kaoru himself.  
  
Megumi stood watching the retreating back of the Battousai. What was it about that man that simply terrified her? It was obvious really. The Battousai pulsated with authority, radiated mercilessness. 'How can Kaoru not fear him?' Megumi wondered.  
  
Battousai strode determinedly through the hallway. People scattered from in front of him, frightened and intimidated by his cold glare. There were few people in this part of the hall anyhow, but he was prepared lest someone try to stop him.  
  
He snorted as he strolled defiantly around a corner. He'd like to see them try. If they could stop quivering long enough. He turned another corner, bumping into a young girl. His eyes shone pale amber, and all that knew of him recognized the icy stare.  
  
"Watch it." he snarled.  
  
Whispers of,  
  
"That's the Battousai!"  
  
"Himura Battousai!"  
  
"That cross-shaped scar."  
  
"He carries a sword even in this day and time!"  
  
And most troubling of all,  
  
"They say he lives at the Kamiya Dojo!" echoed all around him, only succeeding in making him angrier.  
  
'How do these people know me, and how do they know where I stay! I've put Kaoru in even more danger!' Battousai scowled to himself. This clinic would have to be watched much more closely.  
  
Quite a bit behind the hitokiri, Megumi searched the hall, praying Battousai wouldn't be hindered. 'If anyone has any sense they'll flee from those awful amber eyes.' She thought. There had been no new injuries so far; Kenshin must somewhat be in control.  
  
Either that or many people's images of the Battousai was vastly incorrect, according to them he would have killed at least two of these innocent people already. But back at the waiting room he said he'd never been fond of killing innocent people.  
  
Did that imply that he hadn't?  
  
Or just that he didn't like it?  
  
Megumi didn't want to think about it right now, she had to make sure no one was hurt. Megumi had yet to find a single scratch, although 15-year-old Neko had ran into the wall. Megumi mused over this for a while. What had the silly girl done this time?  
  
"Neko, stand up if you can." Megumi said, offering a hand to the young, dazed female. Neko just sat with the same dream-like stare and the same dumb expression. "Neko?" Megumi nudged the girl with her foot. "NEKO?!" Neko's lack of a response soon annoyed Megumi.  
  
"Neko." She snickered, "Neko, look it's your boyfriend." Neko sighed and blinked. Her eyes slowly came back into focus and grew a shining luster.  
  
"Oh Megumi!" she exclaimed breathlessly,  
  
"He has GOT to be the most luscious hunk of male specimen that I've EVER had the pleasure of ogling!"  
  
"Neko? Who may I ask are you speaking of?"  
  
'She can't mean--!'  
  
"Battousai of course!" Neko giggled. "He's just so DANGEROUS, and STRONG, and BRAVE." Neko widened her eyes with each emphasized word.  
  
"NEKO HE'S AN ASSASSIN!"  
  
"So? I think you're jealous cause he ran into ME."  
  
Megumi sweat-dropped.  
  
He was calm; he would not scream. He was calm, he would not scream. HE WAS CALM HE WOULD NOT SCREAM! HE WAS CALM DAMN IT ALL! CALM! Battousai drew a deep breath and attempted to still the eye twitch that had implemented itself in his left eye.  
  
Another deep breath to calm his temper. There was no need for him to destroy the clinic. The only thing it had done wrong was get him extremely lost. He wouldn't demolish it. He was CALM. 'But I really want to.' His inner voice complained. Battousai glanced around the dark hallway once again. He had a strange feeling he wasn't supposed to be here.  
  
Oh well, he'd been places he wasn't supposed to before. It's not like they'd do anything to stop him. Who'd known the clinic was so big?! It sure didn't look it from the outside. Where was Kaoru?  
  
He would find her. Peering in doors as he wandered down the hall, he saw various people, none of which were Kaoru. His blood was boiling, his anger raging to be freed. He needed to break something. NOW.  
  
His frustration built and built until he just didn't TRY to suppress it anymore. It stayed bottled up, but those cold amber eyes could have frozen the very depths of Hades itself.  
  
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A/N: What do you guys think? I'm having fun writing it, so I really don't care. *whispers* I really do but if I told you that then you'd think you have control over me. *end whisper* I like reviews. So does Firkin. Firkin is the psychologist frog that wants to hear all your complaints since I'm sure that chapter sucked royal monkey toes. Oh well, tell me what you thought. Follow Firkin the Frog Fighter For Famous Finale! Hehe those are fun.  
  
/\(;-;)/\ ^Firkin. He wants to hear your problems. He doesn't even care if they're about everyday life. He's a psychologist after all. 


	6. Dismissive Passions

Chapter 5: Dismissive Passions  
  
A/N: Ohhhhh.does the title make you wonder? It should. If it doesn't you're incapable of curiosity and should be shot upon sight. *pulls out .357* Oh wait. I forgot that I don't like guns. I'm not telling you why. Anyhow, in this chapter hopefully you should see some, *things* that weren't quite clear last time we watched our Godly friends. Well, technically they aren't our friends.  
  
Hitomi: What do you mean I'm not your friend! YOU WROTE ME INTO EXISTENCE IDIOT AUTHORESS!  
  
Fjork: *sigh* Sorry HCT, she gets a bit over-emotional sometimes. She's just passionate. OOP-did I say that out loud?  
  
HCT: Yes you did Fjork. Oh well, it doesn't really matter. I think you just made them more curious. *peers at reader suspiciously* Ohhhh, I SEE YOU.  
  
Battousai: HELLO, trying to cure Kaoru here!  
  
Kaoru: -_- ZzZz  
  
HCT: Battousai honey, Kaoru is sleeping. She doesn't need a cure.  
  
Battousai: YES SHE DOES! DIE!!!! *draws sword*  
  
HCT: c.C Oooook. Well, while I run around trying not to lose my head, you read this chapter I've so considerately written. Oh yeah, don't forget to read my disclaimer. One day it could tell you something particularly important...  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own RK. I do own Hitomi and Fjork though. They are MY original creations. NO TOUCHY!  
  
HCT:...but not today. Hehe, sorry.  
  
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Fjork paced in the terrarium garden. What was he going to do? Sighing with indecision, he walked carefully over the fragile plants in the garden. He needed to sit under the tree. It was a good thing this garden was so large, for he yearned to be alone.  
  
Truly alone.  
  
Well, not truly alone, but alone with maybe one other person? 'DAMN IT FJORK! FOCUS!' his mind screamed at him. Snapping out of his thoughts, he pondered his dilemma. He was required by syndicate law to tell the Others what he knew.  
  
But if he did they would kill Hitomi. Before the danger had been minimal. Just a warning to Hitomi, and she hadn't even known it was the Others. Fjork found himself wondering how he'd even gotten himself caught up in the Other syndicate.  
  
*flashback starts*  
  
A five-year-old Fjork followed Hitomi as she stomped around her room, packing clothes in her suitcase furiously. "Sis....what's going on? Why are you angry?" Fjork asked. "Daddy says I have to go to the nursery. I'm running away." Hitomi replied matter-of-factly.  
  
"I wanna run away with you then." Fjork said, raising his chin to imply he wasn't afraid. Even though he was. Hitomi sighed. Fjork saw her probe coming and swiftly let down his guard. The child had learned to completely shield his aura from her, but because of his quick thinking she still saw the oranges of concern and the swirling blacks of fear.  
  
"Fjork, you can't come with me." Hitomi stated firmly. The wilderness of this Plane was not a place for children, no matter how prodigious. Fjork frowned. Hitomi was hard set in her ways, she would be difficult to persuade otherwise now. "Sis?" he said, peering around to see her eyes.  
  
He needed to look into those deep turquoise pools. Hitomi turned towards him, her eyes brimmed with tears unshed. She looked away when she knew he noticed them, blinking so they wouldn't fall. Fjork growled furiously.  
  
This wasn't the first time her father had made her cry. Strange enough, though Dreiden was his adoptive father, Fjork had never taken a liking to the man. Or had he ever thought of him as a father in any way, shape, or form.  
  
Hitomi took a shuddery breath to stifle the sound of her half-sob. She wanted out. Now she was going to get it. She would leave, and when she came back, she would be strong. She WOULD be the Goddess of the Plane, no one, not even her father could stop her.  
  
Her mother, ha, that was a laugh. The pushover she was? Fjork watched the play of emotions in Hitomi's downcast eyes. He saw the white swirls of pain in her aura, and knew that the abuse had not been verbal only.  
  
The dark magenta of worry swirled with the light blue of caution; her worry was highly guarded Fjork saw. Technically he shouldn't be able to see these colors, at least not this deeply. The one color that frightened him the most was this new one, one he'd never seen in her aura before. He saw the sharp, jagged edge of gray, the color of suicide.  
  
"Hitomi." Fjork pronounced. His tone implied no room for argument. Hitomi gasped at the likeness to her father's voice that small body could project. Fjork stopped, momentarily stunned that he held such authority. "Hitomi." He continued, his confidence renewed.  
  
"I am going with you. That is final, I will not argue. If you refuse to allow me to accompany you, then I will run away to a different place, and most likely I will die there." Fjork inwardly wondered at the seriousness of his words. Where in his tiny, fun-loving body had he a serious bone?  
  
"Fjork! You are most certainly NOT going with me!" Hitomi turned away from him, denying him the pleasure of seeing the want in her eyes. She would hurt while she was gone. And it was because of him.  
  
Fjork sat on the edge of her futon. "Hitomi. Listen."  
  
Hitomi exploded.  
  
"NO YOU LISTEN YOU LITTLE...YOU LITTLE...CHILD! YOU DON'T CONTROL ME! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU! I'M LEAVING, AND YOU ARE NOT TO FOLLOW ME! I SWEAR TO WHATEVER GOD YOU HOLD SACRED I WILL THROTTLE YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT FOLLOWING!! WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO BUG OFF WITH THE OTHERS!"  
  
Fjork recoiled, having received the outburst on more levels than one. Since no one knew of his advanced psychic abilities, no one bothered to shield their ranting or screaming when he was yelled at.  
  
He was getting pretty good at fending off the tension headaches many acquired from telepathic roaring. THOSE were not fun. But strangely this hurt much, much more. Fjork watched as Hitomi huffed and stormed away from him.  
  
She thought him weak. Well he would show her. He would do just what she had said, no matter how facetious she had been. He would join the Others. Hitomi would be back. He, on the other hand, would not.  
  
*end flashback*  
  
Fjork sighed. Oh yes. He remembered now. He groaned. 'I liked not knowing better.' How foolish he had been as a child! But now, now he was too wrapped up in everything else to let go of the syndicate. Plus it was impossible anyhow. The Others would kill him and Hitomi, and her entire family. Fjork crumpled under the bent figure of the old tree. He stared at the long, slender gray-green branches that dipped nearly into the small stream.  
  
His eyes traced each and every heart-shaped oval leaf on the ancient tree. And he allowed his mind to stray towards days long gone. He and Hitomi had often sat under this tree and talked. How he longed for a simple talk with her now. He would tell her everything. EVERYTHING. He would tell her about the Others, he would tell her about what happened when he left, he would even tell her that...he loved her.  
  
And not as a sister.  
  
He wanted nothing more than to fuse his powers with hers, to feel that rush of being united forever. To be one with the one and only. He wanted to be her protector, to be her salvation, her other half. Fjork sighed. "I'm a hopeless romantic." That's what he got for listening to Hitomi's mother for hours on end.  
  
But Hitomi had changed. The Elite had molded her into something else, something harsh and manipulative. He loved her anyway. Tightly clamping a block on his straying emotions Fjork sighed. Time to think of something else. No need to get himself worked up over something he had no power to change.  
  
He watched the minnows play tag in the shallow stream. He'd loved to watch them dash around so as a child, they reminded him of Hitomi's eyes. And he was at it again wasn't he. He didn't know what he was going to do. Hitomi filled his every moment, even his sleep.  
  
He often dreamed of a future with her, raising their two children, the older male child Ronin and the younger female Romini. His dreams were so vivid, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe they were signs of something to come...BUT anyhow. Back to his dilemma. What was he to do?  
  
He had no idea what to think. This constant obsession with Hitomi was running his life. She wasn't what she used to be, which is what Fjork fell in love with, but he still loved her, yet the love he felt was for the buried Hitomi. He needed some serious time to think.  
  
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A/N: Nothing about Hitomi in this chapter, I needed to devote it to Fjork's dilemma. And his little revelation. Please don't flame me to badly, they aren't REALLY brother and sister! They just grew up together! *cringes and hides under notebook*  
  
*EEP* Follow Firkin!  
  
/\(;-;)/\  
  
^Firkin needs your help! HCT needs an anti-depressant (and most likely some bandages from violent flames from readers), and reviews are just what the psychologist ordered! 


	7. Sleep of the Slowly Dying

Chapter 6: Sleep of the Slowly Dying  
  
A/N: I should write about Kaoru in this chapter. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. I don't always do what I should. I do have some ideas I would like to pour into this one, full of darkness, angst, pain, and misery. I'm just glad that I'm able to get it all out in writing. It is hard to remain cheerful when such dier thoughts consume your mind. But, I like being cheerful. I like making people laugh, as you might have gathered from my last story. It's just that sometimes the emotion shown on the outside can be the most deceiving emotion of all.  
  
Kenshin: AAA---MEN!  
  
HCT: *EEP!* Where'd you come from?  
  
Kenshin: What, surprised that you aren't the only one that hides from your emotion? HELLO, EX--ASSASSIN HERE!!! Sessha thinks you think wrong, that he does.  
  
HCT: Yeah well then why don't you stop badgering me and go DO something about your emotions?  
  
Kenshin: Do YOU push YOUR inner demons?  
  
HCT:.....fine. But you still need to go talk to Kaoru.  
  
Kenshin: -_-;;; *thinks* Did she listen at all to anything sessha said?  
  
HCT: YES I LISTENED YOU UNGRATEFUL RUROUNI! ^-^ I'm the authoress, I always listen! And you know what's really cool about it? I CAN READ YOUR MIND! *Waves hands mystically* Woooooo...Here's the disclaimer.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own RK. I don't even really own myself. The government owns me, because they own everybody. Which means, if they own everybody, that they own all his or her possessions. Which means, indirectly, that the government owns RK, since the government owns everything. I don't think Battousai would like that very much. Hm...that would be interesting to see.  
  
HCT: Hey Battousai! George Bush owns you!  
  
Battousai: HELL no, tell him I said he's a *@$%^& &@#^@$*!!!!!  
  
HCT: O.O Oh my...  
  
~^~^~  
  
Battousai stormed down the hall, hand itching at his sword's sheathe. He longed for someone to challenge him, a small diversion would be a welcome outlet for his boiling frustration. Finally he could take it no more, he had to do something. Drawing his sword he prepared to dampen his anger, for if it grew much more he would lose control.  
  
He stewed sullenly in the fact that no one dared attack him. Maybe he'd done too good a job in frightening them. But at the time, his goal had been to frighten them so they WOULDN'T attack him. He had wanted to get to Kaoru. Who wouldv'e guessed he'd get so lost? He glanced to his right, staring at the soft white wall.  
  
This room had a child on the inside, he could feel her ki. Badly injured she was, and barely clinging to life. This room would do no good. Growling and mumbling quietly about being a softie, Battousai kept walking until he found a room vacant of human ki. There was something inside, but whatever it was, it wasn't human.  
  
Grappling with the force he sought to investigate. It was...nothing he'd ever felt before. 'Oh well, it doesn't matter. This is the last ROOM in the hallway.' He could see the end of the hallway less than 5 feet away. How could he have missed Kaoru?  
  
He'd followed her ki, all the way to...wait a minute...when had her ki disappeared?!  
  
Surely that didn't mean that...! No, he refused to think that. His anger exploded within him at the young doctor, and everyone else here. Letting loose a coarse, gutteral cry he swung his sword against the cold brick wall, causing a mini Do Ryu Sen and collapsing the wall inward. A still small form lay motionless on the examining table, barely alive.  
  
"Kaoru..." Battousai breathed.  
  
For a long time, Kaoru really didn't FEEL anything. She knew she was lying prone, she knew that something was wrong. For a while, she was alone. VERY alone. It was dark, and it seemed that evil loomed above her, though she could see nothing. 'Kenshin...' she thought. What was wrong with her?!  
  
She struggled to bring herself out of the darkness, Kenshin might be trying to talk to her at that very minute! She didn't want him to worry, God knew she'd worried over him enough times to know that it was a living hell. The despair she felt pushed her towards a steady conclusion: She wasn't coming out of it.  
  
Kenshin would either die or get over her, everyone would leave her by herself, she'd be alone again. Like she was now.  
  
The deepness of her prison alarmed her, and she knew she wasn't thinking rationally. 'If I could calm down, and just breathe for a minute, I'd be just fine.' Kaoru thought to herself. She inhaled sharply to taste the cool...nothing. No air came into her lungs. She hadn't even inhaled. What was wrong?! She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't do anything now that she stopped to think about it.  
  
Thinking was all she could do. Her body simply wouldn't listen to her! Something was holding her in deep darkness, drowning her in the turbid waters of her own mind. She wanted to scream, to lash out and cry and thrash and yell and struggle, but when she did, nothing happened except the drowning feeling increases, and she was already desperately treading water far over her head. A loud rumble echoed through her mind, followed by a huge crash.  
  
She knew she should flinch, her body tried and failed. Then the incredible pain collapsed around her. Lancing, searing spears of pain shot through her mind, leaving what part of her was still there very weak. Her blood-curling mental shriek reverberated through her mind, unspoken but felt to an extreme extent. The sharp barbs continued to plague her; her mind felt as if it were expanding to phenominal proportions in a pint-sized jar.  
  
Her arms, legs and all her other extremeties pulsed with similar agony. It was as if someone had taken all her blood, her tears, her life-essential fluids, and replaced them all with brutal blatant pain. She sought to scream again, memories of her first outburst and how much better she'd felt came flooding back. But this mental shriek brought only more pain instead of providing an outlet for the extraordinary stress. She was trapped, unable to run, hide, or even cower, her secure mental castle beseiged by the angry rebel, Pain.  
  
Kaoru's face showed none of this inner horror. It remained as beautifully angelic as always, yet the absence of the sapphire jewels made it seem incomplete. Battousai stared at the porcelain manniquin before him. This couldn't be his Kaoru. This shell seemed so lifeless, so totally stripped of animation. He longed to see her eyes, anxious to know if the dull grayish blue remained or if the insightful oceans were back. It was that moment he knew: He'd do anything for this girl. He was madly, helplessly in love.  
  
Sure, before he'd known he liked her, maybe even loved her to a certain point, but never had he felt this. He felt completely and utterly defenseless without her, and should she die he knew he would soon follow. His love for Tomoe...that was a simple joke compared to this...this...overwhelming...He didn't even know how to describe it. He just knew he was long gone. He would follow Kaoru to the ends of the earth, and beyond to whatever afterlife there was.  
  
He glanced again at the slight form of the comatose Kaoru. The only sign that something was indeed wrong was the irregularity of her breathing. It came in short, shallow gasps, or sometimes long shuddering draws. Battousai noted this as he drew near. 'She looks peaceful, but something tells me she's not.' He'd long ago sheathed his sword, caring only about Kaoru. She looked so defenseless, exactly like he felt on the inside. 'She's afraid of being lonely...well...she'll never worry of that again.' He never expected what came next.  
  
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A/N: Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, but I just had to leave you hanging. The next chapter will be horribly morbid(lol, I'm a poet) but hopefully good. I know you guys despise cliffhangers. I know I sure do...when I'm reading a story that is. You get right to the exciting part and you're all exhilarated and you need to know what happens and you look and...it's not there. Then you yell and scream and flame the horrible authoress that so incosiderately left you guessing. *Cringes* Geez, if there weren't so much fun to write I might just have to quit.  
  
/\(;-;)/\  
  
^Follow Firkin. He'll never lead you astray! 


	8. Bloody Darkness

Chapter 7: Bloody Darkness  
  
A/N: Well, I'm leaving my dad's today, so I'll be able to type these up finally. Not that I wrote that much. His house seems to...creatively stifle me. I don't know...it's weird. I've been there for about 5 days?! AH! *sigh* Horrible torture. But, after tonight I'm home free. YAAAA! Ohhhh...I do a bad thing. SHHH! All you all reading this, this is my "trigonometry notes." hehe. I'll probably get caught. Again. Ooooh well.  
  
Disclaimer: We're supposed to be coming to some conclusion in Trig. right now. I'm not listening, so guess what my conclusion is? Here, I'll tell ya: I don't own RK. DARN! I guess I could just go plot and evil plot to storm...Bolivia and take over small children's minds and rule the world! But...I'm not. And I'd rather write.  
  
~^~^~  
  
Battousai stared at Kaoru's slim, slack, body. What was wrong with her? She was so beautiful, even in this stupor. He reached out with his hand to trace her cheek, which was wet with sweat despite her coolness. He neared her temple, grazing it slightly. Kaoru trembled before sitting bolt upright.  
  
"Kenshin...Kenshin!" she sobbed; her jewel-like azure eyes brimmed with tears, but her gaze looked right through him as if he weren't standing there. The amber in Battousai's eyes softened, a small trace of violet was apparent now.  
  
"Kenshin...why didn't you save me?" she whispered.  
  
The sound of betrayal in her voice pierced his heart. She'd already given up on him! He blinked back tears of sadness as he peered into her eyes. The deep cobalt gems faded away, leaving only the gray drabness of before. Last time he'd seen this, Kaoru had spoken as someone else...what would happen this time?  
  
"Hello Battousai..." it growled.  
  
"Who are you!? And why are you terrorizing my Kaoru!" Battousai snarled protectively.  
  
"You already know who I am, and if you don't you should. I've told you once already. I've heard that the Battousai is quite intellectual, but you have yet to prove this. In case you are a complete blockhead, I will remind you. I am Fuse Hitomi. And 'your' Kaoru's pain is you own fault. It's the direct result of those you slaughtered during the Bakamatsu. You are obtaining your atonement through her. After all, you've killed so many, what is one more?" Hitomi laughed menacingly.  
  
"Too bad you're so close to her."  
  
Battousai stared at her.  
  
"Unless..." Hitomi continued tauntingly. "Unless you...don't WANT her to die for some ODD reason."  
  
Battousai growled. He knew she was baiting him for something, what he wasn't sure.  
  
"What do I have to do to save her?" he snarled. This...other...was annoying him very much.  
  
"Snippy, snippy...Find your world's antidote...it shouldn't be hard. It goes with you everywhere, with every heartbeat it courses through you. Yes Battousai, I believe you understand." Battousai's violet/amber eyes narrowed. "The only antidote...is your life-blood."  
  
Kenshin stared.  
  
He'd finally fought Battousai off enough to become entirely himself. Why couldn't he just be left alone, to peacefully lay his demons to rest? The question of why Hitomi was trying to kill Kaoru was obvious. She was trying to get to him through Kaoru. But what pain had he caused Hitomi? Why was she so bitter? Surely she couldn't REALLY do anything...  
  
"Hitomi-dono..."  
  
"You don't believe me. Now you will pay." Kaoru's body slumped to the table. Had Kenshin spoken aloud?  
  
"Kaoru!" Kenshin yelled, catching Kaoru but in the process falling backwards. He'd barely had time. As he lay there with Kaoru's lightweight body atop him, his heart beat furiously. That had been too close for comfort. Gently he lifted Kaoru, shivering against the ice she had for skin. When he placed her on the table, he smiled slightly before touching her cool cheek.  
  
What could this 'Fuse Hitomi' do anyhow? Kenshin's long, slender fingers strayed from Kaoru's cheek towards her lips. 'Maybe just once...' he thought to himself. Kaoru would never know anyways. He gently bent and pressed his warm, moist lips to Kaoru's dry, icy ones, relishing the feel and the odd rightness. It was when he pulled away that he noticed they were faintly blue.  
  
Startled, he examined the closer. Realization hit him as he failed to see the rise and fall of Kaoru's chest: She wasn't breathing! 'What do I do! What do I do?!' In all his years on this green earth, he'd never had to--or wanted to for that matter-- help someone breathe. He didn't even have a general idea of what to do! Kenshin was afraid to do anything, lest he do more harm than good.  
  
Had his kiss done this to her?! Kenshin panicked as he took her pulse. Her heart was beating, albeit dully and continually slower. Even as he felt, the space between her tiny heartbeats grew longer. 'The only way I can save her is with my blood. I'm the only one that can do this, and it must be done. Kaoru's life is ten times more valuable than mine.' Kenshin leaned forward to kiss Kaoru again.  
  
Just before he did, he whispered this message against her lips:  
  
"Dearest Kaoru. Sessha loves you more than you could ever imagine. He's sorry he couldn't tell you before he had to go, but not even he had expected to go this way. I love you Kaoru, and I'm sorry."  
  
In his fervor, Kenshin had left the 'sessha' out of the last sentence. He gently kissed her for the last time ever. A lone tear fell for the love he would never get to proclaim openly, a life he could have had and the fact that he wouldn't ever be able to live it now. He opened his eyes slowly, soaking up Kaoru's image. That would be the last to go.  
  
Kenshin glanced to the counter. Several medical instruments were laid out, but none of them would do. Even the old knife used for cutting the bandages wasn't good enough. Years of overuse had dulled it. Kenshin sighed. Though he was sure he deserved to suffer, he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible and then get back to the-  
  
'Baka. You do this and you aren't coming back. This is it.' his mind scorned.  
  
Kenshin despised suicide, loathed it with every fiber of his entire being, but Kaoru's life was on the line. And he would do ANYTHING for Kaoru. Not to mention things in the world of options were looking bleak. He grasps his sakabatou, ignoring the smooth sound it made as he drew it. The sword was bulky, but it would do. He checked Kaoru's pulse once more, maybe he'd been wrong.  
  
Maybe he wouldn't have to do this after all.  
  
Hopefully he'd been wrong.  
  
Please let him have been wrong.  
  
Kenshin waited...nothing. No pulse. He had to do it NOW. Taking a deep breath he silently prayed. 'Please remember sessha did this for the life of another. In any other circumstances there would be no question, this would not happen. I wish there was a way Kaoru could know how much I love her, and I wish there were more time for me to prepare for this. Sessha never was a very spontaneous person. Sessha never meant to die this young, that he most certainly did not. The one thing he regrets most is that he will never get to apologize to sessha's friends. Just in case somehow they can hear this...Sessha is sorry. Goodbye.'  
  
Silently, slowly, Kenshin looked to Kaoru. "For you..." he whispered, flipping the sharp edge of the blade to face his left wrist. Pressuring the sword down brutally, rocking it slightly back and forth, Kenshin carved a long angry line across his wrist. He grimaced; this hurt more than he thought it would. Surprisingly there wasn't that much blood. He must have missed the vein. Cutting deeper, Kenshin searched for the lifeline he would soon sever. A spurt of blood sprayed from the wound.  
  
He'd found it. He can feel the blood gushing from him with incredible speed. If he were going to get the other wrist also--to make it quick--he'd have to do it soon. Already he was weakening, his left arm going numb. He transferred the sword to his left hand, nearly dropping it when his right released it.  
  
Sloppily raising the sword, he sliced a slightly diagonal cut on his right wrist. It was considerably shallower, seeing as how he was quickly losing his strength. He hadn't expected everything to go so quickly. He'd missed the vein in his right wrist.  
  
Cut again.  
  
Missed.  
  
Cut again.  
  
Spurt of blood covered Kaoru's still form.  
  
Everything was going dim. His vision was leaving. Kenshin dropped to his knees, bleeding on anything in sight. Blood was all over the entire room, everything, even Kaoru, was covered in it. Through the haze he was living in, Kenshin saw Kaoru take a breath. She was alive! Good. His life wasn't in vain. He could die in peace. And everything went black.  
  
~^~^~  
  
A/N: Geez. I'm crying. I wonder why?! This is one of the hardest chapters I've ever written.  
  
/\(;-;)/\  
  
^Firkin. 'Nuff Said. 


	9. Dead Or Alive

Chapter 8: Dead or Alive  
  
A/N: Sorry everyone. I've had few plans for this story, but this was one of them. Horrible I know, but I wanted to see if this would turn out like I wanted. Sorry if you don't like it, you really don't have to read anymore. I won't hold it against you.  
  
Disclaimer: I own Nothing.  
  
P.S.- Never once did I SAY Kenshin died. He just...fainted a lot...  
  
~^~^~  
  
Kenshin moaned softly. He was unconscious; soon he wouldn't even be that. Every heartbeat pushed yet more blood out of the wounds on his wrists, and there was more blood in the room than inside Kenshin's body. Had he been conscious, he wouldn't have been able to move. Though he didn't know, Kaoru's heartbeat strengthened as his weakened, as his breathing became more labored hers improved. Soon she would regain consciousness.  
  
Light penetrated Kaoru's darkness. She could see again? She'd been breathing on her own for a few minutes now, and her body temperature had returned to normal. Her strength flowed back in waves, and soon she could pull herself up without aid. She rubbed her eyes; they felt gummy for some reason. Her vision was still fuzzy--she couldn't exactly see anything--but as she felt around on her face, she knew the gumminess was everywhere.  
  
On her face, on her clothes, in her hair, on the examining table, you name it and it was there. Slowly her eyes adjusted and she saw what had happened. A blood-curling scream echoed through the hallway.  
  
Halfway down the hall, Megumi heard Kaoru's shriek. "Something's wrong." Megumi walked more hurriedly, breaking into a run when she saw the wreckage of what used to be Kaoru's room. "Oh...My...God." Megumi surveyed the blood- splattered room and the fallen rurouni lying on the floor beneath Kaoru. Kaoru was entirely coated in Kenshin's blood. 'I'll deal with her later.'  
  
Megumi quickly bent over Kenshin, and as she picked up his limp wrist to check for a pulse she knew what had occured. Still, she had to ask. "Kaoru, what happened?" Kaoru didn't speak. She just kept staring at her hands, which were covered in Kenshin's blood. Tears silently coursed down her cheeks.  
  
Megumi finally found a pulse in Kenshin's neck. His heart was beating only once for what should have been ten beats. 'I've got to save him! Ken-san can't die!' Megumi thought frantically. 'I'm going to need some help from Kami above if he's going to live.' She grabbed the bandages and dropped to her knees beside the rurouni, oblivious to the blood everywhere. It soaked slowly into the knees of her kimono, her toes felt the slipperiness even through the socks.  
  
She tightly wrapped the bandages around the deep wounds. 'He's lost so much blood...he might not live.' Megumi thought. "Kaoru?" Kaoru's eyes were glazed slightly, though she still cried. 'She's went into shock.' Megumi tried to lift Kenshin's body, even though he had lost a lot of blood--too much perhaps--he was too heavy for her to lift.  
  
'Sano.' Megumi thought. The ex-fighter for hire should be in town at about this time. Megumi knew she had to find him. Her instincts cried for Sano, and she knew if she could find him, everything would be better. She stood and dashed from the room, arriving in the lobby in moments. Her bloody kimono startled the waiting patients, though she wasn't there long enough to question. "Saaaaaanoooo!" she cried, running into the streets of late evening Tokyo.  
  
Sano saw her outburst from a nearby merchant's booth. He threaded his way through the crowd to Megumi's side. "What's wrong Fox? Did you miss me that much?" He observed her attire, suddenly noticing the bloodstains. "Megumi! What's wrong!!!"  
  
"Kenshin tried to commit suicide! I need you to help me! We can't let him die!" she sobbed, clutching Sano's jacket and crying against his chest. Sano stared in horror. Kenshin...tried to commit suicide? Sano hurriedly comforted Megumi. "Now, now, everything will be fine. I'm sure Kenshin will be just fine. But only if we go save him. Where is he?" Sano asked, trying to maintain patience though he was anxious to see Kenshin. "In here. Hurry!" Megumi grabbed Sano's hand and pulled him through the lobby and down the series of hallways in less than three minutes.  
  
Sano waded through the debris of the damaged wall. "Holy hell..." he said, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of Kenshin's bloody body. He'd expected blood, but not this much! Where did all this come from!? Surely it wasn't all Kenshin's?!  
  
"How?"  
  
His question went unanswered as he found Kenshin's bloodstained sakabatou. "Kenshin no baka, you said this sword had never been stained with blood. Then you go and do something like this." Sano picked Kenshin up carefully and looked to Megumi. "Where are we going?"  
  
"Here, put him in this room." Megumi led him to the emtpy room across the hall. Sano gently lay Kenshin on the examining table. Megumi covered him with a bunch of blankets. "He'll get a fever if he's going to come back." she explained. Sano looked bleakly at the pale form of what he'd come to know as his best friend. This was not like Kenshin at all: he hated suicide!  
  
'If he pulls through--wait, look Sano, be optomistic, not if, WHEN he pulls though, I'm gonna have to ask him what the hell he was thinking! I mean, I can see something like this happening if Kaoru had died, but she isn't dead!'  
  
"Sano, I'm going to help Kaoru. Stay with Kenshin, and if anything happens, anything at all, let me know." Megumi left the room. Sano sat in the chair across the room. From here he could still observe Kenshin, but he wasn't hovering over him. 'Why Kenshin? Why did you do something like this?'  
  
~^~^~  
  
A/N: Well, see I told you I didn't kill him! I know, I'm an evil, evil person, but eventually you get used to it. Hang in there people, it gets better. I hope. I haven't written it yet, so I really don't know. But I do have plans for later, so I already know exactly what happens. Well, not exactly, but I do have a general idea. Wanna know my ideas? TOO BAD! MWAHAHAHAH! Actually, if you guys have any ideas, you could let me know, I just might use them! I'd be sure you got credit of course! Well, now I really do have to go, more chapters to write. 


	10. Those Awful Red Eyes

Chapter 9: Those Awful Red Eyes...  
  
A/N: Guess what! It's me again! Yay! I'll see what I can do about fixing this mess I've made...maybe it'll turn out ok. You never know, I always end up doing bad things like this. Even when I joint-write with Ashes Of Reality, I always end up writing tragedy. All right, enough of my rambling. Let's see now...what is there that I want to tell you...OH! Dude, the REAL Kenshin comes on tonight (Today being Saturday) and I'll finally get to see what happens! Even though we still have...5 episodes until Kenshin defeats Shishio. Dude, I know so many things that I'm not supposed to, it's not even funny. Argh. I hate working in the house so much. Just today I had to clean the entire kitchen (sweeping, mopping, dishes, blahblah, the usual), DO laundry, dust the living room, and...I don't remember. But it was stuff. And I don't like stuff. And...I'm sure you're tired of hearing my complaining, so I'll go write the story now.  
  
Disclaimer: You know, I'm kinda glad I don't own RK. Cause if I did, then I most likely wouldn't be able to write fanfic's about it. Cause the fanfics I wrote would be episodes, and some of the ones I write are...well not possible. *sigh* My life is so complicated.  
  
~^~^~  
  
"Sano...Sano...Wake up Sano..." Megumi sighed. The roosterhead had been watching Kenshin for the past eight hours. He was supposed to wake her up after she'd had four hours of sleep, but being the ahou he was, he'd evidently let her sleep. 'He can be so considerate sometimes...' Megumi smiled fondly. Then she resolved herself. "Sano!" she pushed the chair over.  
  
"POODLES!!" Sano yelled sleepily as he woke from the floor. Megumi didn't hesitate to laugh over his predictament. "Dreaming of poodles? That's different." she giggled. "I wasn't dreaming of poodles." Sano stated. "Oh really?" Megumi raised an eyebrow. "Oh well, it doesn't matter, it's time that you went home and got some--" "I was dreaming about you." Sano continued. Megumi stopped mid-sentence.  
  
For a minute they just sat, staring at each other. Sano was the first to speak up. "Megumi, yesterday when I saw the bloodstains on your kimono and thought that something had happened to you, I realized something very important. I knew at that moment that if anything ever DID happen to you, I would die. I understand how Kenshin felt now Megumi...I love you."  
  
Megumi stared, wide-eyed. The roosterhead loved her? The roosterhead loved her! Tears of joy welled in her eyes, and she broke into a smile. "Oh Sano!" she choked, tears sliding down her cheeks. "Megumi?" Sano interpreted her tears for rejection. "It's ok Megumi. You don't have to feel the same." from the floor his shoulders slumped dejectedly.  
  
"No roosterhead no baka! I love you too!" she collapsed down to the floor where Sano lay. He broke into a full-fledged smile and sat up to embrace her. And once again, Megumi knew that with Sano, everything would be ok.  
  
~^~^~  
  
Megumi smiled from the chair. There was nothing really for her to do except watch Kenshin and think, but he still hadn't moved from the position they'd left him in last night. He was still deathly pale, and Megumi was slightly worried that he'd already died and his heart was just beating anyway.  
  
That was a creepy thought. Megumi shivered and wrapped the blanket more tightly around her. She had to keep this room very cold, for when Kenshin contracted the fever he would need help keeping his body temperature low. Most likely they would still end up using ice.  
  
~^~^~  
  
Sano peered into the room. He hadn't been able to sleep very well, knowing that Megumi was alone in the room with a potentially dead Kenshin. For some reason that thought bothered him very much. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't like it. He caught himself smiling; Megumi was just so adorable when she slept.  
  
Movement caught his eye. Had Kenshin just twitched? Surely it had just been a figment of his imagination, a cruel trick his overworked mind had played. Still...He walked over to Kenshin. He still hadn't moved. "Must have been my mind." Sano whispered to himself.  
  
After Sano left the room, Kenshin opened his eyes. What was going on? He was supposed to be dead. Damn them, they must have kept him from dying. Without his life-blood, Kaoru would never be free. His body burned with fever; the heat it radiated oddly reminded him of Shishio. He knew he wasn't able to move yet, and his eyes burned with the effort of keeping them open. Or maybe they just burned, like everything else.  
  
'Shishio must have despised his life.' Kenshin thought. The heat was almost too much for him to bear, the darkness was threatening to come back. But Kenshin didn't want to fall unconscious, not just yet. He needed to think.  
  
What did he need to think about? He'd forgotten. The flames licking at his body distracted him that much. He could feel little rivulets of sweat running off his body; he shivered. The beads of sweat chilled him. Odd, he thought the coolness would have been welcome, but it only worsened the flames.  
  
He can't take much more of this torture. 'If only I could move!' he thought. Try as he might, he was still to weak to do much more than shiver. He could barely blink; he had to keep his eyes closed for a moment before reopening them. His body shivered frantically in the effort to cool him, but it wasn't working. His temperature climbed higher, every degree growing closer to the point where he would lose it.  
  
He couldn't let himself reach that point.  
  
He didn't want to die.  
  
A bead of sweat rolled from his forehead into his eye. His eye complained, stinging and burning and forcing him to squeeze it closed. He didn't realize he had enough strength to move until he'd already wiped his eye. 'I'm stronger than I was.' he noted.  
  
The heat consumed him totally. He felt like the air that penetrated his lungs was ice; the cold of the room almost made his moist, fiery skin steam. 'I can't take this...I'm still not strong enough.' Kenshin lost himself in the darkness once more.  
  
~^~^~  
  
Megumi opened her eyes. When had she fallen asleep? It didn't really matter, for it didn't seem that Kenshin had moved. Or was his hand slightly to the left of where they'd placed it. Standing, Megumi walked to Kenshin, examining his hand. Megumi felt the heat from Kenshin's body even as she stood three feet away. 'My God. His temperature shot up so quickly!'  
  
She placed her hand on Kenshin's forehead, trying to judge the height of his fever. As soon as her cool hand touched his brow, his eyes shot open. Megumi recoiled slightly from the small, angry eyes. 'He's delusional. I must be careful.' she noted. Kenshin's left hand slowly rose to grip her wrist. The heat of his palm stung her skin. 'This is not good. Oh, I wish Sano were here!' a frantic look displayed itself in her eyes.  
  
"Woman, why do you touch me with your hands of ice?" Kenshin growled. His voice was odd, neither that of the rurouni or that of the Battousai. His eyes weren't normal either. They were slightly wider than normal, and bordered between dark pink and red.  
  
"I...I'm sorry. May I please have my hand back? I only wanted to see the extent of your fever." Megumi replied. Kenshin reluctantly released it, his eyes narrowing. They seemed to pierce Megumi's very soul. Whoever this was, she didn't like him.  
  
Kenshin sat up. Where had he gotten all this strength? His body couldn't possibly be strong enough to facilitate this much movement, it wasn't humanly possible. 'His body is being fueled by the sheer heat of his fever!' Megumi deduced. This creature was not Kenshin. It wasn't even the Battousai.  
  
It was a new creature, a dangerous creature. A man that would do anything to satiate the horrible heat within himself, pushing himself outside of his limits to satisfy something that would never be satisfied. There was no doubt in Megumi's mind that this man would not hesitate to kill her with his bare hands if she angered him.  
  
Kenshin stood. His dangerous red eyes reflected the light and even though they stood four feet apart, Megumi could feel the heat from his fever. If she didn't bring it down soon he would completely lose his sanity. He was already pretty far gone, but could still be saved. If she could bring his fever down. But that would require his cooperation, and it didn't look like he would offer it readily.  
  
Sano strolled down the hallway. 'I wonder if Megumi has woke up yet.' he chuckled quietly to himself. He peeked in on Kaoru to find her peacefully sleeping. Megumi had finally brought her out of shock, and though she'd been in a coma, she needed rest. So she was sleeping.  
  
He turned to Kenshin's room. The door was closed, but did he hear voices? Was Kenshin awake?! He hurriedly opened the door to find...someone he didn't know. The hair and build were Kenshin's, but the eyes most certainly were not. Who was this guy? His eyes were red, piercingly red.  
  
Sano inhaled sharply. Something was not right. "Kenshin, this is Sano, do you remember Sano?" Megumi said quietly. "SPEAK NOT WOMAN." Kenshin demanded. Sano had never heard Kenshin speak so harshly, not even as Battousai. "Kenshin?" Sano took a step into the room. The horrible red eyes narrowed, they were slight specks now.  
  
Kenshin trembled, anger radiated from him almost as much as the heat of his fever. The only difference was Sano was well aware of Kenshin's anger. Megumi stared. This was NOT good. "Sano. He's delusional from his fever. It's gone too high and has driven him slightly insane. We need to bring it down, but he will have to be restrained. He's going to fight us, and with him being as skilled as he is...that's not good. His fever is controlling his body, and he feels that everything is against him."  
  
Sano resolved himself to the task. There was a very high possibility that he would be injured. Kenshin was glaring at Megumi now, he'd told her not to speak. Sano caught the fury of Kenshin's glare, and in an instant was there to catch Kenshin's hands as Kenshin sprang on Megumi.  
  
Megumi shrieked before diving out of the two men's way. Kenshin quickly threw Sano's hands off. 'Where did he get so much strength?' Sano thought frantically. Even he was having problems holding the furious fists of the delusional rurouni. Finally the realization hit him. This was the part of Kenshin that had always been held back, the angry monster that festered inside of him. And it was loose.  
  
Then Sano slipped. He left an opening and Kenshin brutally punched him in the throat, causing Sano to release his other hand. He then stood and turned to Megumi. "You, my dear woman, are a nuisance. I do not like nuisances, nor do I suffer them to live." he growled.  
  
Sano choked in the background. He was having extreme trouble breathing, but had he just heard Kenshin threaten Megumi? He had to get up! Try as he might, he couldn't move, only gasp for air. Megumi trembled as Kenshin approached her. "What's wrong wench? Do you fear me? That's good, for you definitely should."  
  
Kenshin raised a hand to strike Megumi. And two arms wrapped brutally around his waist from behind, lifting him off the ground. He kicked and struggled, but couldn't hit the adversary behind him. "Let me go if you value your life!" he growled. "I'd have to say it's the other way around." Sano croaked.  
  
With a mighty snarl, Kenshin broke Sano's hold and was in an instant ready to fight him. "Don't hurt him!" Megumi called from her cowering position on the floor. "He tried to hurt you and you still defend him!?" Sano choked. His throat was partially closed off. Kenshin had hit him pretty hard. "It's not the REAL Kenshin!" Megumi said. Though this was not Kenshin, it WAS Kenshin. "Sano, don't hurt him! If his body sustains any more damage, he probably won't make it through his fever!" she cried.  
  
Sano studied Kenshin carefully. The small man growled from his stance at this injustice. How was he going to restrain him without hurting him? Kenshin didn't give him time to think about it, simply disappearing from Sano's view. Sano turned, but before he knew it, a barrage of punches punished him from above, and by the time he'd looked there, Kenshin was gone.  
  
Sano kept being brutally battered as Megumi searched in vain for a glimpse of Kenshin. She couldn't see him at all. Then, as Sano fell to one knee, Kenshin was standing before her. "Wench, stand up and face me. I want to see the fear in your eyes." Megumi slowly stood, her knees trembling. Kenshin noted this, and a malicious grin spread across his face.  
  
And then everything went black for him.  
  
"Sano! I said not to hurt him!" Megumi cried, holding the sagging Kenshin up in her arms. Barely. "Help me..." she begged. Sano swallowed to diminish the lump forming in his throat and picked up the unconscious rurouni. "We'll have to restrain him." Megumi sighed.  
  
~^~^~  
  
A/N: Wow, this chapter didn't go ANYWHERE I'd planned. I just kind of...sat down and wrote. And this is what I got. I like it though. Hopefully you will too.  
  
/\(;-;)/\  
  
^Firkin! 


	11. Caught Unaware

Chapter 10: Caught Unaware  
  
A/N: Hello everyone! Darn it, I always end up creating more problems for my poor brain to figure out how to solve! This last one was a humdinger! Don't even ask where I got it, cause the truth is, I don't really know. It just kinda...fwoooooooo...and there it was. And I didn't realize where I was taking it until I had already took it. LOL. (Sorry bout the grammar in that one, I couldn't help it.) OH and dude, Friday our Football team BRUTALLY butchered our local rivals. OH yeah. And the band kicked some serious other band bootie. GO US! And our Baritonist was soooo awesome, he really did well on his solo. And, as always, the horn section was the bestest! ^-^ We can't help being good.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own RK. Dude, I own my fingernails though. They're really cool right now, Black and silver. The silver are the little dots from dice. It's awesome. DUDE.  
  
~^~^~  
  
Megumi watched Kenshin shiver furiously. They'd packed him in ice, after tying his arms and legs to the table. They couldn't afford for him to get up and attack them again. The poor rurouni hadn't regained consciousness after Sano had knocked him out. If this went the best possible way, Kenshin's fever would break in about three days.  
  
But Megumi had an odd feeling this wasn't going to be going the best way.  
  
~^~^~  
  
Fjork paced his room impatiently. There was a way for him to do this, he knew there was! He just needed to think, hard and long. He stopped pacing long enough to sit on his bed. And then it came to him. If Battousai was in love with this 'Kaoru', and Hitomi was controlling Kaoru, then the easiest way for him to fix everything would be to control the Battousai.  
  
It really wouldn't be that hard. He knew how, and if he could do it right, he'd definitely convince Hitomi it WAS he. All he had to do was find Battousai's wavelength and then...it was easy. But how hard would it be to find Battousai's wavelength?  
  
Fjork paused. What exactly did he know about the manslayer? Let's see, he knew that Battousai had red hair, that he loved Kaoru, and that...and...well...he was Battousai? 'GAH, I've got some research to do if I want to find him.' he thought. "Let's go talk to Hitomi, Fjork." he said aloud. When had he started speaking in third person? He didn't know.  
  
Fjork left his ornate room to walk to Hitomi's office. The long hallways were mostly bland and devoid of any beauty, with the obvious exception of the Dream Hall. He wandered slowly, taking time as always to ponder the exceptional paintings of nymphs and faeries, elves and dragons, unicorns and jewel-eyed sea creatures. 'A dreamer is a dreamer 'til the day he dies.' Fjork thought.  
  
Back in her office, Hitomi watched the screen. She was delighted with the response she'd prompted from the Battousai, not to mention very intrigued with this red-eyed, red-haired, hot tempered individual. He'd sufficiently amused her for the time being. Perhaps she would allow Kaoru to recover. Hitomi snickered. What complex feelings this man had.  
  
To tell the truth, she hadn't been expecting to find him this concerned for Kaoru. She'd thought that he would let her die, and just continue on his way. He'd proved her wrong. TWICE even. "Himura Kenshin, what kind of man are you?" she questioned aloud.  
  
"A very amusing one perhaps." a deep voice spoke from the corner. Hitomi sat up from her couch. "Fjork?" she called. "Incorrect. Guess again?" the voice definitely belonged to a male. Hitomi sought the man with her mind, only to find a dark void. He simply...wasn't there.  
  
"Correct, my dear Hitomi, I am not there. I'm standing beside you now." Hitomi jumped as she felt the swirl of icy air beside her. 'Don't over- react.' she steeled herself. Casually she turned her head to inspect the one who dared invade her sanctuary. "Voyridal-sama..." she stuttered. The man had long, black hair pulled into a low ponytail, and wore a white trench coat with a high red collar. "Correct again Hitomi. What is my baka deshi up to now? And why are you torturing my taihen baka deshi?"  
  
"You know this man?" Hitomi stared in astonishment. She hadn't known the Voyridal visited earth...  
  
"Hai. I trained him using a style called Hiten Mitsirugi long ago. Being the baka deshi he is, he left before his training was completed, and when I found out he was coming back, I was hard pressed to get my story in line! I'd barely teleported to my potter's bench before he appeared, begging me to teach him the final technique. Bah. I had to stall him while I arranged the order of my cabin, so naturally the thing I did was refuse. The ahou-- of course--argued with me, giving me time to get everything in order. A few days later he succeeded in learning the final technique, Ama Kakeru Ryu No Hirameki, and to my very own surprise, he actually DID almost kill me! He refused to take his role as the fourteenth Hiten Mitsirugi master, leaving me in his place." the Voyridal explained.  
  
"Voyridal-sama, you mean this man, he is a god?" Hitomi said, her eyes wide with astonishment. The Voyridal laughed. "Hardly my dear Goddess, he simply has the ability TO BE one if he so desired. But the ahou will never realize that." Hitomi sighed. "Does that mean I have to stop my game?" she snapped bitterly. "No, no, by all means continue. I know what he did to you. Exact your revenge, Hitomi."  
  
~^~^~  
  
Kenshin grasped the light, pulling the edge of consciousness closer. It was cold, very cold, and he could feel his body shivering against the biting frost. He wasn't sure how this was possible, for the fire inside him still raged blindly. The heat, oh the horrible heat, was eating him alive, boiling his insides. He had to quench this fire, ease this horrible torment. And THEY were trying to keep him from doing just that. It was all THEIR fault. THEY wanted him to suffer, he was positive they reveled in his misery.  
  
He would soon get them. He would kill them all, but not before torturing them slowly and painfully. Kenshin broke into a grin at the very thought. 'Ah, it seems I'm conscious once again.' he thought. Observing his surroundings, he discovered the reason for his incessant shivering. They'd tied him to this table and then packed his body with ice. They thought to torture him until he broke. Well, he would show them.  
  
Himura Kenshin didn't break. He bent, he swayed, he sometimes cracked, but he NEVER broke. To do so was unforgivable. He pulled slightly against the restraint on his right arm, the one closest to the wall. Damn them, they hadn't underestimated his strength. It was as if they knew him, but he knew this wasn't possible.  
  
If they knew him, then he would know them, correct?  
  
His sword. Where was his sword? Had they taken that from him also? Damn them, they were good. There was no such thing as an easy escape around this place. What did a guy have to do to break out of some restraints nowadays? He could feel the anger growing inside him, and knew that eventually it would be all he needed to break free. He fed it eagerly with the little injustices he thought had been done.  
  
Where was the woman that was watching him last time? Could it be that the impertinent wench had left him to himself? Perhaps it wouldn't be as hard as he thought. He pulled more violently against the restraints holding him to the table (and in the ice). He still couldn't move. Growling he struggled with all his might. 'INSOLENT WEAK BODY!' he thought bitterly. Since when did his own body not listen to him?  
  
"Kenshin?" a voice called from behind him. This voice was new. And female. Kenshin grinned mischievously. Perhaps this could be used to his advantage. All he had to do was get her to believe he was benevolent, and surely she would release him. Unless she too had been informed of his situation.  
  
She hadn't. Kaoru watched Kenshin struggle weakly. He was barely a shell of the Kenshin she'd once knew. Why had he done something so awful? Something must be horribly wrong. Kenshin would never have done something like this otherwise. He was so pitiful! Kaoru almost sobbed at the husk of the once lively man she adored.  
  
Kenshin smirked. It was working. He could sense the pity in her ki. Only a few more minutes would he have to pretend to be weak. Did this female have a name? And was she just going to continue hovering behind him? 'I'll have to prompt her.' he decided. He turned his head to the side weakly, moaning in mock agony.  
  
"Kenshin!" Kaoru exclaimed, rushing forward. She HAD been right! Kenshin DID need her, and he was in pain! How could Megumi tell her not to stay by his side? Stupid Fox Lady, besides, Kaoru knew not to over-do it. It wasn't like she was dying for Pete's sake. 'You faint nowadays and people everywhere have a hernia.' she thought. Well, no matter what Megumi said, Kaoru was staying RIGHT here with her Kenshin.  
  
'Ah yes, now that's the kind of reaction I'm looking for.' Kenshin thought smugly. Oddly enough, his heart rebelled against the thought of killing this woman. 'Why should she be any different? It's not like I haven't killed before...' Though Kenshin knew this wasn't true. He'd killed before, but not as he was now, this part of him had never broken free. Like he'd said before, Himura Kenshin didn't break. He bent, he--you get the picture.  
  
"Kenshin? Are you ok, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked, silently pleading for an answer, for anything. Kenshin groaned and his face contorted with pain. This was so unfair! He shouldn't have to be in such pain while she was perfectly fine! It was her fault he was like this anyhow! If he hadn't thought something was wrong with her, then he wouldn't have done this. 'That's not true Kaoru, you can't prove that that's why he...did that.' her mind chided. Kenshin blinked open his eyes, shining a pale purplish-pink. "Who...are you?" he questioned weakly.  
  
Kenshin inwardly awarded himself a Grammy. Best Acting to Fool a Wench Before You Kill Her Brutally. He could barely suppress a grin and instead steeled himself and forced a little bit of violet into his eyes. When he blinked them open, he was surprised to see such a familiar face. 'Kaoru...' his mind said. He knew her somehow, but she would die just the same. "Who...are you?"  
  
A tear ran down Kaoru's cheek. Kenshin mentally scowled. Crying just wouldn't do. "Kenshin...It's Kaoru...don't you remember me?" she sobbed. Seeing he was causing her much more pain by not remembering her he decided to keep this facade up a bit longer. Silently, mournfully, he shook his head 'no.' Kaoru collapsed over him, sobbing into his bloody gi.  
  
'KUSOOOOO!' his mind screamed. OH the pain! Kaoru jumped back. He was burning with a fever! 'Duh, Kaoru, you should have figured that much out by the ice bags.' she said to herself. She just hadn't expected it to be so...well, hot. Kenshin's skin ached from the Kaoru's touch, as if she possessed the flame of evil that smote him. He struggled to keep his eyes peaceful, to keep his weak outer appearance in effect.  
  
"Kenshin...are you ok?" Kaoru said quietly, watching his eyes. They kept swirling different colors, and she wasn't sure what to make of it. He closed them before swallowing and nodding. "C-can you...untie these?" Kenshin pleaded. Kaoru chewed her lip anxiously. He couldn't possibly be strong enough to go anywhere even if she did...plus he looked positively miserable.  
  
"Ok." she bent to untie his right hand first.  
  
~^~^~  
  
A/N: OOOOooooh BAD THINGS TO COME. ARGH I just keep making more problems for myself! Oh well, I want to personally thank all my reviewers, lemme see what I can do here.  
  
Lil-Warrior-Gal: Heh, I'm glad I've hooked you on my fic, now all I have to do is make sure I don't disappoint you! I really hope I don't, and btw, I TOTALLY agree. Megumi is (in my opinion remember people, don't sue me please) so very annoying in the show, she really does need to get a grip. But I do think her character is like that on purpose. -_-;;;; Oh well! Until next time!  
  
Sofa-chan: I wanna give big thanks to you! You've so faithfully read all my fics so far, and it makes someone feel special when they have a loyal reader. Believe me, this IS going somewhere, and somewhere BIG. You know, actually when I first wrote that chapter I WAS thinking about it being Kaoru that grabbed Kenshin's waist, but well, if it really had been her, then...bad things would have happened. c.C You'll see! Thanks again! ^-^  
  
Koishii-glory: No, this Kenshin doesn't have a name, well other than Himura Kenshin. It's just the part of him that has never been allowed to surface, as I'm sure you can tell WHY. I'm glad you liked it, and I hope you continue to read. *.*  
  
Brownie-luving Icee-chan: I'm glad you like this new part of Kenshin, and probably the main reason you've never heard of it is that...here I'll tell you...*whispers* I made it up! *no more whispers* I'm always doin' crazy stuff like that, my biggest fault being that I constantly make up new words. . *sigh* Oh well!  
  
Falling_From_the_Sky: I don't know what I can promise about no one dying, I'll sure try my best! Hehe, aren't I evil evil? Yes, yes I know. (U.U) Don't have a heart attack just because of something I wrote. Go eat very salty french fries for a year or two, THEN have a heart attack of clogged arteries. Now THAT is dying happy.  
  
And to all of you: I'm so glad you all love me enough to review. *huff* To all you that didn't, I suppose it's everyone to his or her own. Whatever floats your boat. Anyhow, I'm not here to knock all you guys that didn't review, I'm here to say thank you to all the ones that did. SO *LMAH!* (sticking tongue out). If any of you guys have suggestions PLEASE let me know, I wanna see what you guys want to happen. Remember, I couldn't do this without you. Well, I could...but I don't want to. ^-^ 


	12. Unfortunate Circumstances

Chapter 11: Unfortunate Circumstances  
  
A/N: Dang it, I've done it again. I've gone and made things complicated. Maybe I can fix it...eventually.  
  
Disclaimer: Oh my, I do wish I owned RK, but the truth is...I don't. *sighs and grits teeth* My therapist says that's ok, to take deep breaths and count to TEEEEN. One...TWO....THREE........FOUR....*BOOOOOM*  
  
Kenshin: HCT just exploded, so Sessha will be doing the rest of the Authors Notes, that he will.  
  
Kaoru: *pokes HCT* Is she dead?  
  
~^~^~  
  
"Kenshin...are you ok?" Kaoru said quietly, watching his eyes. They kept swirling different colors, and she wasn't sure what to make of it. He closed them before swallowing and nodding. "C-can you...untie these?" Kenshin pleaded. Kaoru chewed her lip anxiously. He couldn't possibly be strong enough to go anywhere even if she did...plus he looked positively miserable.  
  
"Ok." she bent to untie his right hand first.  
  
~^~^~  
  
Kenshin smirked to himself. His plan was working so well. He watched the faint blue veins pulse in Kaoru's neck as she worked with the knots around his wrist. 'Why did they tie them so tightly?' she wondered. Kenshin flexed his hand, for the lessening of the pressure around his wrist allowed the blood to flow more freely into his fingers. And he would need his fingers most likely. He pondered: How was he going to kill this woman?  
  
He had no sword and his extremeties tingled, but he knew she must die. Damn his bastardic existence, all the years of kindness he'd been living as the idiot rurouni had softened him, but he would harden his heart again. Even as the Battousai his heart was soft! But then, it had always been. He would fix that, and the death of this woman would be the first step.  
  
His eyes twinkled merrily and lethally as his right wrist came free. A sharp pain caused him to cry out, exerting much more vehemence than before. She'd rubbed across his wounded wrist, reopening the slash and causing him pain. "Bitch, you'll pay for that." he growled, clutching his bleeding wrist in his still restrained left hand. The blood slowly seeped through the bandage, the crimson ring spread as if it were fueled by his anger.  
  
Kaoru stumbled backwards. This was...was this Kenshin? He didn't seem to know her at all, and he certainly wasn't acting like himself. He'd just called her a bitch after all! Kaoru had never heard Kenshin use such profane language, not even as Battousai, but that was to be expected, for he was neither Kenshin nor Battousai. Her eyes stayed wide and she trembled. Who was this person?  
  
Kenshin scowled at her. This female irked him very much. Why was she so irksome? Her glared at her. She'd forced him to expose himself sooner than he'd hoped. He lashed wildly at his left wrist, if he didn't free himself soon she would escape!  
  
Kaoru stood, frozen in place. What would he do to her? Was the real Kenshin even in there anymore? She wasn't sure. Who was this creature he'd become? She had so many questions, and answers to none of them. She'd never been so simultaneously frustrated and scared out of her wits in her entire life. She snapped back to reality as the restraint around his left wrist broke with a loud crack.  
  
Kenshin had his ankles unbound in a matter of seconds. It was easy now that he had his hands. His sword, where had they put it? His sword, he needed it! He could feel his obsessive tendancy rising again, and fought his compulsive nature. He wanted, longed for his sword, and knew it would torment him until he had it. He'd almost conquered that stubborn obsessiveness, but the quirk about his sword remained.  
  
Kenshin ransacked the room, finding his sword conveniently stored in an overhead cabinet. He grinned madly at the frightened Kaoru. "Do you fear me?" he growled. She whimpered. It was Kenshin, right? He wouldn't hurt her...  
  
Slowly, menacingly, he drew his sword.  
  
Kaoru gasped and took a step backwards. She knew she was in trouble when she felt the wall behind her. There was nowhere to go. Kenshin had succeeded in cornering her quite effectively. She slid down the wall as he advanced towards her, his violent intentions reflecting frighteningly in his features.  
  
Kaoru felt something wet drip on one of the knees she'd drawn to her chest. She looked down to see a single wet tearstain. She hadn't even realized how frightened she was, how terrified that the real Kenshin wouldn't come back this time. Sure, he'd come back all the others, but somehow this was different. He wasn't the REAL Kenshin. Would he really kill her?  
  
Kenshin gazed hungrily at the huddled, trembling form below him. Was she afraid? What was she thinking? He placed his sword tip under her tilted chin and raised it to look into her eyes, his glowing a menacing red, hers a piercing azure. Not a trace of fear could Kenshin find, only resignation and determination. 'An odd mix...' he thought.  
  
'If my death is what it takes to bring Kenshin back, then I will gladly sacrifice my life.' Kaoru thought, refusing to be frightened. His sword tip was at her throat, she felt the sharp barb pricking her skin. Wave after wave of fear washed over her like the tides of the ocean, but the only appearance they made in her eyes was a gentler blue. 'I have no reason to be afraid. I do not fear death.'  
  
Kenshin frowned. She wasn't afraid. His sword was already pricking her throat and she wasn't afraid. He hated the look in her eyes, the one that told him she pitied him and that she would gladly die. And die she would, simply because his heart protested it so much. She really hadn't done anything to warrant his anger, no, actually, if his heart hadn't complained so, he most likely would have kept her for himself. He would have liked to break her defiant spirit.  
  
Kaoru closed her eyes, waiting for the blow that was sure to come. She could still feel the tip of the sword, but she barely even flinched when she heard the blade being flipped. Kenshin frowned. He was sure that would get a response. "Stand. I will let you die with honor, on your feet like our ancient ancestors in battle." he sneered. Kaoru obediantly stood, opening her eyes once more.  
  
Kenshin cursed. Those damn eyes bothered the hell out of him. There was something in them, something that told him she saw into his very soul. DAMN IT he wanted her to cower, to fear him! He swung his sword at the table, slicing it neatly in half, ice packets splitting and throwing ice all over the room. Kaoru turned her head slightly to the side as little chunks of ice showered over them. And through the prisms of falling ice, she saw the real Kenshin.  
  
For a half-second, he was there.  
  
But then the cruel...other was there.  
  
Kenshin grinned. In letting the rurouni come through, he'd sufficiently broken Kaoru's defenses. She was now just as helpless as before. He roughly pushed her back into the corner. Kaoru's back hit the wall and she gasped, the blow having knocked the air from her lungs. "I changed my mind. You will die cowering before me." Kenshin grinned.  
  
"I don't think so!" croaked a voice from behind him. Kenshin spun around, grabbing Kaoru's wrist and pulling her in front of him, his sword at her throat. "You again..." Kenshin growled. Sano popped his knuckles from the doorway. He still couldn't talk very well; Kenshin had damaged his throat pretty badly. "Let Jou-chan go." he said quietly. "What?? What was that I heard? Kill the bitch? Ok!" Kenshin's blade drew ever nearer to Kaoru's throat. Sano saw the terrified glint in her eyes.  
  
"Fight me you coward! Or do you only hide behind a shield now? Are you afraid I'll hurt your poor widdew bowdy?" Sano jeered. Kenshin's temper flared. Kaoru was pressed against him, astounded at the heat from the fever. Was it possible for it to be this high? Wasn't the ice supposed to make it go down!? Why didn't it work? He hadn't been out of it for too long!  
  
Sano glared at the angry man holding the woman he considered his sister hostage. Of all the people Kenshin could decide to kill. GEEZ, why Jou- chan? Kenshin flung Kaoru angrily to the side and charged Sano in blind anger. Sano found it quite easy to manipulate the demoniac into their clever little trap. Sano quickly sidestepped as the sword flew at him; he grabbed the blade in one of his powerful hands.  
  
Kenshin twisted as he felt his blade stop. His back was to the doorway as he struggled to free the blade for Sano's hand. Blood dripped back down the blade almost to the hilt before falling into a puddle on the floor. Megumi ran in from the hallway.  
  
Sano pulled the blade to him, and as soon as Kenshin was close enough, grabbed him by his arms. Kenshin fought and screamed, kicking at Sano and lashing at them both with very foul language. Megumi approached slowly, wary of the strength Sano held in his arms. Kenshin narrowed his eyes. He cut loose a long cry, making to break free from Sano, but his shout was ended abruptly as Megumi plunged the needle into his neck, emptying the contents of the syringe slowly.  
  
Kenshin's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. He looked like a fish drowning in the air. Megumi withdrew the needle, grimacing slightly. Sano closed his eyes. Kenshin's struggles soon became less animated, his language less colorful and more slow. "You'd better lemme go..." he slurred. His eyes rolled in their sockets as he tried in vain to keep them open. He finally fell limp in Sano's arms.  
  
"Is he really out?" Megumi asked. She walked cautiously over and peered at the sleeping man. "Oh yeah, he's gone." Sano gestured to the wreckage of the examination table. "Oh...well...here let's put him in Kaoru's old room. She should be able to go home now anyhow. That is if the idiot didn't hurt her again." Megumi replied to his unasked question. Sano carried him into the next room. "Megumi...?" Kaoru said quietly. "What's wrong with him?"  
  
Megumi sighed. "His fever is dangerously high. If it gets any higher, the possibility is great that he might die. It's driven him slightly insane, so obviously he isn't himself right now. If we can bring the fever down, we should be able to get the old Kenshin back, but the way he's resisting, it's looking like it's going to be a long, hard battle. Are you hurt?"  
  
"No..." Kaoru replied. "But I AM worried about Kenshin. I hope he'll be ok. He scares me like this, and I don't like that, I want the old one back." Megumi shook her head. "That may not be possible, Kaoru."  
  
~^~^~  
  
A/N: HOW SAD! *Sigh* I guess you'll just have to read more. Darn.  
  
Well, So far, only three people have reviewed my chapter 11. So that's all I'm gonna reply to right now. All you other people should feel ashamed, cause you don't get a personal answer. so *Lmah!* OH, I got stung by a bee today! During band sometime, I'm not even sure what kind of bee it was. But my arm ITCHES and HURTS. It feels like someone is stabbing a pencil THROUGH my arm. Ya, I'm sure that's a pleasant picture. Ok, Imagine...an eight inch needle and someone just going AAAAAHHHH! and stabbing it into your arm. That's about....what I feel like.  
  
Playing In Traffic: Lol, Nice simple words. Why are you confused? Oh and seriously, I did crack up when I read your review. Keshio? That's just great. Hopefully you keep reading, I enjoy hearing what you have to say! ^- ^  
  
Koishii-glory: Yay! I believe you, cause you were one of the (so far) two people that reviewed! Course, that could just mean you have no life, like me...or it could mean you really like me! ^-^ *wipes away tear* How sweet I feel so loved!  
  
Sofa-chan: Indeed, he did lose a lot of blood. And...perhaps I DO have things planned. ^.~ And well, truthfully, I'm not sure whether his memory is going to come back or not, I don't know until I write it. Dude, he almost died! 


	13. Dreams

Chapter 12: Dreams  
  
A/N: We're getting yelled at in Computer Apps. right now. *sigh* People keep doing bad things, like cheating (Come on, who cheats in computer apps??!), leaving food and drink by the computer, etc, etc. You know, the scary thing is, yesterday I was sitting here in Computer Apps. at the end of the class thinking, 'Ya know, this class would be extremely easy to cheat in...all you'd have to do is open someone else's file and put your name on it...' and then today we got "The Talk." DUMDUMDUM!!!  
  
Does my incessant rambling bother you? Sorry.  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah, now I'm stalling. I'm not really sure what I'm going to write in this chapter, so I'm stall---OH! WAIT! I know what I'm going to write! I must go! I don't own RK! *jumps hurriedly to writing*  
  
~^~^~  
  
A small family sits happily around their simple dinner of tofu and rice, heads bowed in silent prayer. The man and father to the small boy raises his head first, soon followed by the mother's. The little boy keeps his head bowed. "Shinta, what are you doing? It's time to eat your supper." his father says. "I'm asking Kami to keep the bad guys away so mommy can stay with us and not be scared." Shinta says softly.  
  
Shinta's mother freezes before slowly relaxing and smiling at her son. His red hair is messy and tangled, and hangs nearly into his food. "Shinta, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You just worry about little Shinta's safety, ok?"  
  
"Yes, Mommy."  
  
Shinta's father runs a hand through his long, dark hair before resting it on the sheathed sword at his side. "Shinta, it's almost bedtime, finish your food." Shinta obeys his father, chewing the last of his rice slowly.  
  
"Bedtime Shinta-sama!" his mother declares finally, her blue eyes sparkling. "Mommy-san!" Shinta runs to her and laughs when she plants a big kiss on his forehead. He wraps his fingers in her curly black hair. "When will you be back, Mommy?" he asks as she carries him to his bedroom.  
  
"Shinta, I can't come back when I leave..." she sighs. "But...I want you to..." he sniffs, tears in his huge violet eyes. "Shinta, if I stay the demons will attack us here. If they ever find out you're my son, they'll be after you too. That's why we have to be extra careful that they don't find out, ok?" his mother explains sweetly.  
  
A tear rolls down Shinta's cheek. "Now, now, Shinta-sama, don't cry."  
  
"I can't help it mommy, you don't love me anymore!!"  
  
"Shinta! Don't ever say that! I will always love you! Just remember, when you see a star that twinkles twice as bright, I'm looking down at you from up there." his mother points to the sky. Shinta sniffed. "Really?"  
  
"Yes. Now Shinta, I'm going to put you to sleep, ok?"  
  
"Ok Mommy."  
  
His mother gathers him in her arms. "I'll ask you one more time Shinta- sama...are you sure you want to stay here with your father? You could come with me and meet MY little brother."  
  
"Mommy, I need to stay here to keep Papa happy when you leave us."  
  
His mother smiles a sad, longing smile. "That you do." She softly begins the chant that will put him to sleep.  
  
"That I do..." Shinta murmurs sleepily.  
  
~^~^~  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Shinta's mother walks out of his room. Shinta's father sits outside, leaning against the outer wall of their house, his face accented by the moonlight and the tears coursing down his cheeks. "I'm assuming all went well." he says quietly.  
  
"The little lamb didn't resist at all." Shinta's mother replies, equally as soft. "So tomorrow when he wakes he won't remember anything about you? Will he even know he HAD a mother?!" Shinta's father spits the words as if they are poisonous venom, turning to face his wife.  
  
She doesn't flinch, only regards his sorrow with an equal sorrow of her own. "He'll remember having a mother, but he won't remember facial features or the like. You'll probably need to tell him that I died." Shinta's mother sighs.  
  
"I don't want our Shinta to grow up without a mother." Shinta's father insists.  
  
"It has to be this way! Would it be easier if I put a block on your memory too?" she says quietly.  
  
"WHAT?! NO! Koishii, I want to remember you forever! But I don't understand why you can't just stay with us! Do you doubt my abilities to protect you!?" Shinta's father is standing on his feet, sword drawn. The sharp side of the katana gleams in the pale light of the omniscient moon.  
  
"Anata...put your sword away. You know as well as I do that I can't stay. I don't doubt your abilities against mortal man, but the situation is quite different." Shinta's mother soothes.  
  
"I DON'T CARE! YOU ARE MINE TO PROTECT!"  
  
"I must go now anata..."  
  
"NO! Stay here with us!"  
  
"I MUST GO!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
Shinta's father drops his sword in the dirt as he grasps his wife's hands in his own. "Don't leave me...not like this. I love you koishii."  
  
"Anata, I must."  
  
"I refuse to let you go."  
  
"Goodbye."  
  
"NO! KOISHII!!!!!" Shinta's father cries out in anguish as his wife begins to fade away until she's a shimmering mist.  
  
"I love you anata." she mouths as before disappearing altogther. Shinta's father falls to his knees beside his sword. "Hitomi...come back..."  
  
~^~^~  
  
A redheaded man tosses and turns against the restraints on his wrists and ankles. A sweat had broken out on his brow, and his body shakes furiously with the heat of the fever. His body is terribly frail; this is apparent by the weakness of his struggles and the desperation etched in his features. Both wrists are crimson with his own blood; the feared hitokiri is dying by the very hands of the same that killed so many before him.  
  
His breath comes in ragged gasps and his body trembles with the effort. He weakly strains at the bonds holding him down, he wants to lay in the fetal position. His awareness of death is astounding; his loathing of it even stronger. Though his hatred burns high as his body rebels against the fever and imminent death, it is obvious the fight is a losing battle.  
  
His actions are slowing; his breaths fewer and less often. His heartbeats are nearly visible as they lessen more and more. As if he is being watched by another, everything seems to focus on his rasping breaths. A tear rolls down his cheek; he knows his life is ending. "Mother..." he gasps with his dying breath. And with that breath taken, his entire body goes limp as death claims his defiant spirit.  
  
The sigh of the dead resonates quietly. "Mother--"  
  
"SHINTAAAAA!!!!!!!" Hitomi screamed as she shot upright in bed. He couldn't be dead, he just could be! She didn't realize she was crying until she stood to dress. She had to know if he was really dead, if she'd killed her only son. Her dream couldn't possibly be a reality, it...it was unthinkable. She pulled on her sleeping rober, not bothering to fully dress, and burst into the hall; her sobs were by now plainly hearable.  
  
As she stumbled past the Voyridal's room, trying her best to remain quiet through her wracking sobs, lest anyone try to comfort her and hinder her on her mission, the shadowed figure inside smiled: she'd finally remembered.  
  
Hitomi blundered unhindered to her office. With a short cry she lunged for her remote, momentarily forgetting her psychic abilites. The screen opposite her couch fizzed on, and--remembering her teleportative abilities-- she was there in an instant. "Shinta...what have I done..." she whispered mournfully.  
  
As she beheld the pale figure confined to the bed and the length of his restraints, Hitomi felt a guilt that had only been paralleled one other time in her life. "Don't die on me Shinta...please don't die..." she finally succumbed to her feelings for the first time in many years; burying her face in her hands she cried.  
  
She cried for Shinta, for all the pain she'd caused in her ignorance. She cried for her late husband, that she'd left so abruptly and never talked to again. She cried for herself, for the memory she'd long been deprived of. And most of all, she cried for Kaoru, for all the pain and suffering she'd caused her, not only through possession but through Shinta. And all of it was HER FAULT!!!  
  
She knew now what the Voyridal had meant when he'd said, "I know what he did to you. Exact your revenge, Hitomi."  
  
The Voyridal had known all along that Hitomi was his baka deshi's mother, and he'd never said a word. He'd known that Hitomi would only hurt herself. He'd known also that she needed to remember herself, not be told by another. "But why did he let me take it so far..." Hitomi sobbed.  
  
"Hitomi?"  
  
A hand on her shoulder made her jump up and spin around. "Fjork! What are you doing here!" she asked in surprise. "It doesn't matter, it looks like you need a shoulder to cry on..."  
  
"Oh Fjork, I need so much more than that!" Hitomi wailed.  
  
"Now, now, Hitomi, you NEED to calm down a little." Fjork said calmly, putting his arms around Hitomi's trembling body. She pulled her arms closer to her chest and sobbed against his chest. Fjork sighed and lowered his head to rest on hers. "Oh Hitomi..."  
  
Hitomi's sobs eventually subsided as Fjork's even breathing comforted her. She was safe; everything would be ok as long as she could just stay in his arms. "Hitomi?" Fjork asked after several minutes. "Hmmm?" she sighed.  
  
She'd been listening to their synchronized heartbeats. There was one thing that puzzled her though, and that was the question of why his heartbeat was as fast as hers. She knew why hers was fast; she'd been crying after all. But why was his so irregular? Could he possibly be thinking the same as she? No, it was impossible, there was no way that he--  
  
Hitomi's thoughts were interrupted by Fjork's heated kiss. She struggled briefly, but soon gave in to the passion. Her world quivered as the feeling encompassed her entire being; her knees would no longer support her. Fjork caught her crumbling body with his mind, breaking even more boundaries he deepened the kiss until Hitomi was floating on a sea of bliss and the angry lines of oxygen deprivation swam in her vision.  
  
Only when Fjork remembered that breathing was a life-essential process did he break away from Hitomi. She reeled wildly as he let go of her with his mind, falling directly back into his arms. "What was that for?" she asked when she could breathe again and had assumed a more dignified pose. "For just being you, the Hitomi I've always loved, for being the one person I can't stand to see unhappy, for being the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with...Hitomi...It's time to let go of the past." Fjork replied, rubbing his hands down her back.  
  
Hitomi pondered what he'd said. Finally she looked him in the eyes. "You're right."  
  
~^~^~  
  
Kenshin swam in a sea of darkness and fire. If this was dying, he wished death would hurry and speed his departure of the living. He yearned for the eternal blackness, surely it was better than this. How long had be been here? Why was he restrained? What had he DONE?  
  
Bits and pieces were all he could grasp, leaving him feeling adrift. He knew who he was, but not much more than that. There was a woman, and she meant very much to him; he could almost see her face, but then his mind would brutally cut him off. His memories of events were jumbled so that he wasn't sure what came first: the rurouni or the Hitokiri. And then a specific event floated to the surface; Kenshin's elation at remembering soon dampened at the anguish of the memory.  
  
He saw no face, but knew it was one he cared about, and he saw the sword as she leapt between him and his foe. A horrible read covered everything and then the searing pain in his cheek. And as Kenshin lay shocked at this memory, a face came into view. Beautiful sapphire eyes shone brightly beneath her raven-colored halo. A bright aura of innocence and determination radiated from her very being. But he'd killed her!  
  
Why was his mind torturing him with images he couldn't grasp? Who were these individuals, and why were they in his mind? Had he done something he shouldn't have?  
  
Suddenly, unbidden, another face floated into his memory. Dark, midnight black curls framed a beautiful face accented by turquoise eyes. Those eyes seemed to see him and through him, everything around and all unseeable. 'WHO IS SHE! WHO IS SHE WHO IS SHE!!!!!' his tortured mind screamed.  
  
And with sudden, unrelenting fury, his memory exploded within his head. The extra information and the face assailed his mind. He had his memory back, why couldn't he figure out who she was?! Then, he knew. "Mother..." he breathed, staring out at the stars. A single star burned more brightly that the congregation of brothers and sisters around it.  
  
~^~^~  
  
A/N: Well, I'm supposed to be reading, but oh well. This chapter drove me bananas until I finished it, which I FINALLY did. Oh, and I get to respond to all you'ses reviews now!  
  
Princess of Darkness and Me: Well, I'm assuming that was a good little face- y thing...hopefully? PLEASE OH PLEASE?! Lol, I hope you like...Cause I really would hate to disappoint all you guys...  
  
Playing In Traffic: HA! NEXT CHAPTER! Currently listening to Girls and Boys by GC, and typing up responses. You write the longest reviews of any of my reveiwers you know that? *To everyone* Ok, It's now a contest, see if any of you guys can write a longer review than PT here! *PT* I'm glad it's not confusing, I was afraid it was with the whole, Hitomi/ Fjork thing. Plus I can't resist fluff! ^-^  
  
Koneko: Maaaaaybe I will resolve things....*grins evilly* Maybe. You'll just have to wait and see. And what's wrong with being a sap anyhow? I know I sure am one! ^-^ Glad you like, don't cry too hard now...  
  
Lil-Warrior-Gal: This amuses me.^-^ You'll see soon enough if he gets his memory back... well technically you should know already. If you don't then go back and read again! GEEZ, I feel sorry for Kaoru too. It was like, unanimous "feel sorry for Kaoru" reveiw time LOL. I was amused by that too.  
  
Kenshinzgurl: Aw, you called me a great writer. I feel special! YAY ME! Lol, I'm glad you think I rock and that you like it *sniff* makes me *sniff* feel so LOVED *wail*!!!! Anyhow *composes self* continue on...  
  
Sofa-chan: You know, I can't promise you I won't kill him, because undoubtedly, the moment I did, I would get thsi great idea and somehow accidentally kill him. -_-;;; And then you would hate me...AHH BRIBERY! MUST...NOT...ACCEPT! GAH! CAN'T RESIST! NOOOOOOOOO!  
  
Koishii-glory: *sigh* I don't have a job either. I'm hopeless. I WANT A JOB AND A CAR! Dude, I might be getting a car soon. o.o THAT'S AWESOME! Keep on readin', and I'll keep postin'!  
  
Shaolin and Amakakeru: Hey! Thanks for loving my story, you vicariously love me too! YAY! I did read your story, and I LIKE IT. POST MORE NOW. ^-^  
  
Crane: Uh...Ok? *gives more story* HERE YA GO! Just...don't go ADD on me anymore. That was kinda scary. Sounded like you were hyperventillating. Don't do that, it's dangerous. O.O  
  
Flying Dragon: Hey I'm workin' on it! Hope you like it, for MY sake at least. AND not that alcoholic kind either!  
  
Yakul: Uh...ok? Good or bad??  
  
Simplisticself: Nice name! I'm glad you like it, and it was one of my original intentions for this fic to be different. I'm not exactly the kind of person that sticks to the path, see look, this is the path | | and I'm waaaay over here (I am here) stuck in the poison ivy. Well, at least I'm not allergic... 


	14. Three Weeks Later

Chapter 13: Three Weeks Later...  
  
A/N: Well, I'm having some problems deciding where to go from here, but I think I can make this work. I'm also having problems concentrating, cause the puppy is missing and I have bronchial sped-ness. (Sped means "Special Education. Or Retarded for those select SPED's out there.) It hurts to breathe, but fortunately for you it doesn't hurt to type! WOOHOO! Lemme see, I have a 6 weeks test tomorrow, but it's only vocabulary, and I should be ok in that department. I've drank so many carbonated things trying to get rid of this bronchial...CRAP that I'm all...carbonated. I'm also having problems deciding whether I should stretch this out or just end it. If you guys have any suggestions, PLEASE let me know, I'm realllllllly losing my touch here. There's no angst for me to go on! NOOOOO! Lol. Well, I had fluff in the last chapter! WOOHOO FLUFF! YAAAA! *giggles* Well, I think I've stalled about all I can for this A/N...Darn.  
  
Disclaimer: I Don't own RK, but I do own this empty Dr. Pepper bottle sitting beside me here at the computer. Actually, no I don't, someone else bought it for me. DARN!!  
  
~^~^~  
  
"Fjork, I can't! I...I just...can't..." Hitomi cried, pushing against his prodding fingers. "Come on Hitomi! It's been three weeks since you remembered that YOU HAVE A SON and you still haven't even made contact with him!" Fjork exclaimed. "The poor guy is probably very comfuszulated since you let him remember so suddenly!"  
  
Hitomi grinned at Fjork's new word. He seemed to make new ones up all the time. Then she grimaced as Fjork raised his eyebrows. "Now what are you going to do Miss Hitomi?" "I'm gonna go tell my Shinta that--FJORK I CAN'T DO IT!"  
  
"Sure you can! Just...DO it." Fjork grinned, poking her in the ribs. Hitomi shied away, giggling. "But the only thing is...I'm younger than he is...well sorta." Hitomi complained. "He won't believe me!" "Now Hitomi, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but he's not exactly the oldest lookin' fella."  
  
"Well DUH, He's my Shinta, doomed to be perfect!"  
  
Fjork mildly smacked his forehead in exasperation. "Am I going to have to teleport us down there?"  
  
Hitomi stuck out her tongue. "You CAN'T teleport, idiot."  
  
Fjork frowned. ".....so?"  
  
~^~^~  
  
"Yahiko, be quiet! Kenshin is resting! He may act like he's ok, but remember he is still very sick!" Kaoru scolded. "Yeah, yeah. I know." Yahiko grumbled. Kaoru hummed quietly in the few minutes of near silence that ensued as Yahiko watched her roll rice balls. "Hey...Kaoru?"  
  
Kaoru nearly dropped the rice ball she was rolling. She didn't, luckily, but what she did do was squash it to a pulp. Since when did Yahiko call her Kaoru instead of busu or ugly? Usually he only called her Kaoru when he was worried, or scared, or wanted something, or needed to talk to her, or--  
  
"Is Kenshin going to be ok?"  
  
Kaoru smiled. So that's what was wrong. She laid the mutilated rice ball down and hugged Yahiko. "Of course he is...he just needs some time." Yahiko stayed in her embrace, happy to accept comfort, well as long as no one else was watching...  
  
"Hey Yahiko, I never knew you and Jou-chan were so close!"  
  
Yahiko immediately turned beet red and started struggling out of Kaoru's grip. "I'm not close, the busu's trying to squash me like she did that rice ball!"  
  
"MOU! Yahiko, I would have thought you would have at least been more considerate! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT ASKED!!"  
  
"I DID NOT, UGLY!"  
  
"UGLY?!?!?!?"  
  
Sano smiled. So these two were feeling ok, at least. That probably meant that Kenshin was doing better. "I'll see you two later, I'm going to check on Kenshin." Kaoru and Yahiko didn't even slow the tempo of their bickering. Sano rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen.  
  
Once outside the kitchen walls, it was relatively peaceful in the dojo. The gentle caress of the wind tickled the blossoms on the tall sakura tree; a few fluttered softly in a graceful descent to the ground. Fall was on its way, that was for sure! The slightest nip was in the wind, only enough to make the former Seki-Houtai member even more proud of the jacket he wore.  
  
The few flowers Kaoru had decided to plant that year were still in full bloom, though a few of the oldest were dying. The bright red, yellows, oranges, and a few purples smiled up at him gaily, reminding him of Kaoru's buoyant mood. 'It was a good idea for her to brighten up the dojo, it can get so gloomy here sometimes.' he thought.  
  
Now to see Kenshin. The rurouni seemed subdued lately, probably pondering what exactly had happened during his fever. Sano couldn't swear by it, but he thought he'd noticed something wrong the past few days. Like Kenshin was hiding something from them. Sano paused outside Kenshin's door. What would he find when he entered?  
  
"Mother...why? Why did you try to kill Kaoru? And why did I remember?"  
  
Sano's ears perk at Kenshin's distressed voice. Was he dreaming? Wasn't Kenshin's mother dead? Maybe this was what had been bothering him lately.  
  
~^~^~  
  
"Fjork, you know what you must do. The obstacle must be removed, it and all its connections. There is no other way. You will do the honors."  
  
Fjork closed his eyes. How had the Others found out? And now...now he was being ordered to kill Battousai and all his friends. And family. Which meant Hitomi. He scanned the austere room. There was no way they'd let him off this time, it was evident in their hard, set faces. Fjork sighed. "I will."  
  
~^~^~  
  
Kenshin sighed. This was getting frustrating. He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to pray to his mother, or just talk to her. Either way he was getting no answer. Was it all just a dream, a figment of his fever? No, he remembered still her soft, caring face.  
  
Would she have aged much?  
  
Had she changed as much as he?  
  
Did she know about his father?  
  
Kenshin banged his hands against the low desk before him. The cup of green tea bounced and tipped over. Kenshin took no heed and buried his head in his arms. He was just so tired! It had been three weeks, and still he could barely do anything. His strength was not returning.  
  
'Why?' he thought. 'Why am I still so weak? I should be up and about by now, helping out around the dojo and proclaiming my love to dearest Kaoru, but noooo, I still remain fragile and breakable. WHY?!'  
  
He stared at his wrists. The bandages came off a week ago, but the wounds were still there. Angry, red lines he'd carved into his self-being. Those lines made him wonder, no, he'd admit it this time, those lines made him YEARN to taste what death was like. He'd been so close, so near the brink of eternal happiness that he could reach out and touch it. He'd been close to his mother.  
  
He missed her, whether he admit it or not.  
  
Kenshin glanced to his sword in the corner. Would they miss him if he did it? Sure Kaoru would, but lately she recoiled from him when he reached for her. Just yesterday he'd almost fallen in his weakness, but he'd grabbed Kaoru's arm before he could, only to look back up into terror-stricken eyes. When he'd asked her what was wrong, she looked away quickly and responded with a simple, "Nothing."  
  
He knew he wasn't the strongest, but it wouldn't take much to reopen those angry red lines. Wouldn't take much to watch his life slip from his grasp. Wouldn't take much for him to meet his parents again. Would it take much to build his courage? Could he really do it, were Kaoru's life not on the line? He wasn't sure anymore, his will to live outweighing the outstanding cons.  
  
He crawled to his sword, unsheathing it to stare at the blade. It was still just as sharp as before. He ran his finger down the blade, hissing slightly when the edge sliced into it. He took a deep breath. He would do it, he wanted to see them again. Besides, he could always be with Kaoru later.  
  
Kenshin pressed down on the wound. A shallow cut appeared, but it bled profusely. That shallow cut was all Kenshin needed to bring him back to his senses. "WHAT AM I DOING?! SOMEONE! HELP!!!!" Kenshin cried, wrapping his other hand around the bloody wrist. He kicked his sword away, perhaps they'd think he'd just injured it again.  
  
Sano burst into the room as the sword slid away. "Kenshin!"  
  
"Sano..." Kenshin gasped. "I stopped myself."  
  
"I'm glad buddy, now hang on..." Sano tore a strip from his jacket and tied a tight tourniquet around the wound. The snippet of white jacket immediately turned bright red. Kenshin's eyes rolled wildly and he collapsed on the floor. Sano gently moved him to the futon.  
  
When would the madness end?  
  
~^~^~  
  
A/N: Well I'm at it again. Oh well.  
  
Sofa-chan: Glad you liked it, I had to make sure it would be the kind of thing that was just subtle enough to make people read it again and again. Glad you caught it, not that it was that hard to catch anyhow. KUDOS TO YOU!!!  
  
kenshinzgurl: Glad you like! Uh...I don't know why you say that either?  
  
Dark-love-dove: OK! OK! HERE'S MORE JUST DON'T HURT ME! Yay, a new reader! YAY! Thanks for liking my story, and by the way, if you like this, I also write with one of my friends under the joint username TwoVeryAmusedAuthors. We currently have two fics up (I think) WAIT NO THREE! And the best one of them is An Old Acquaintance, though not all of it is posted....  
  
Falling_from_the_sky: Here's the update!! OH NO NOT THE BABY PICTURES! AHHH! GIVE THOSE BACK HOW DARE YOU RAID MY HOUSE! MWAHAHAH! But I have...THESE! *holds embarrassing pictures of NON-baby pictures of fallingfromthesky!*  
  
Koishii-glory: You know I really don't know. She had to leave though, because by staying she was putting them all in danger, you know?  
  
Brittanie Love: Thank you! I'm glad you like it, the main thing that pushed me through this writer's block was you guys!  
  
yakul: Oh I understand! COOLNESS!  
  
Playing In Traffic: Geez you so kind to me. *sigh* Don't know what I'd do without you PT!!! 


	15. ATTACK!

Chapter 15: ??  
  
A/N: Sorry guys, I want to apologize for how short the last chapter was compared to my last ones...I'm just getting over a writer's block you know! And I'm trying to decide exactly where I'm taking this, because I really don't know! Any suggestions would be IMMENSELY helpful! Honestly they would! I'm working on getting to this, hold your horses. What? You don't have horses? Hold your shoelaces then. What? Don't have shoelaces?! GO FIND SOME.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own RK.  
  
~6~6~6~  
  
The assassin crept silently through the corridor. His breath, though silent, came more quickly than normal, and his regularly deep blue eyes were cold and hard with anger, not at himself, but at the ones that brought this upon him. It was so like them to force him into murder again. He'd been doing this for near 13 years of his life, and still he despised it. The bloodspray sickened him, and he was wont to hasten himself.  
  
He knew that the fate of his world could stand upon this one moment; this one night could determined the outlook of his future. Would he be able to carry on, like he had so many times before? Or would this time someone catch him? He needed, no, he LONGED for his sadistic lie to be brought into light. He was tired of living such a blatant untruth when everyone around him thought he was so pure.  
  
Not that they didn't know of his treachery. No, they knew. He knew she'd heard him, coming and going as the awful plague of darkness. She knew, and yet she'd never said anything, not one plain, straightforward word had slipped from her lips. Maybe she wanted to maintain his altruistic bubble of falsity. Or was she simply biding her time, waiting for the accidental slip-up to affirm her suspicions.  
  
Then there was him. Yes, he knew too of course. It's terribly hard to be someone's best friend and not know his or her deepest secrets, even if he or she DOES try to hide them. Friends are woven too closely in the tapestry of his heart, for it is not very often that true friends like his are found.  
  
He cursed his blasted existence.  
  
He didn't want to live like this anymore.  
  
Why did he have to be the best?  
  
Was it his fault that he excelled at the most dangerous sport of all?  
  
He knew he was thinking too much, but could do nothing to stop it. He had to cut off his senses, this atrocity of purity couldn't be viewed by one thought so pure, it would drive him mad. His guilt battled with his wits furiously, common sense assailed his sense of duty. Love for her warred with hate for them.  
  
WHY COULDN'T THEY HAVE JUST CHOSEN SOMEONE ELSE?!  
  
Why was it him?  
  
Why had it always been him?  
  
He took a deep breath. Soon it wouldn't matter. Either his life would be over, or someone would stop him from doing the horrendous act he was being forced to commit. Could he do it? Could he kill her? She was substantial to his plan. If he was to succeed for his people, he must first cede his willpower totally to them. He would have nothing between him and them, and that included significant others. The woman had to go. If he were to be forced into this, he would not go halfway.  
  
She wouldn't want to live with so many around her dead anyways. So he was really doing her a favor, shortening her existence on this sad, sad plane of life. Or was he? Would she look into his eyes as he slaughtered her? Would she beg for mercy, or cry out his name with her dying breath? Would she ever forgive him if he did this?  
  
He knew the answer, though he be loathe to admit it. She would never forgive him for this. Not this that he would soon set into action. He knew that once this dirty sin was committed he could never again look into a mirror, for the only reflection looking back at him would be one of misery and hypocrisy. The thin lines of guilt would be etched forever in his features, the creases of hidden sin would only deepen with time as they continued to use him as their shield.  
  
Would his death be as haunted as his wretched life? He paused now outside her door, moments away from the eternity it would take to kill his beloved, his precious. Why had he agreed? He could never do this! There was always a way out...he just had to find his. Could he run? Would they find him if he left for good? Surely not...but he knew in the back of his mind they would, that he would always be hunted, a marked target with a price on his title. Why did people want to be the best?  
  
'It's a very obvious thing called power.' he remarked stiffly to himself.  
  
And with that he strode silently into her room.  
  
He prowled through the shadows of her room, the blackness of his bent figure matching exactly the blackness in his heart. When he approached her sleeping form he finally drew his weapon. The wickedly sharp, gleaming blade of the long dagger seemed to resonate with the same blackness.  
  
A sword would have been much too noticeable and unwieldy in the circumstances. There was a huge risk that she would awake at any moment, being the light sleeper she was. He carefully slunk closer and peered down at her features anxiously, as if looking for a sign that would stop him in his tracks. He had faith, he knew someone would stop him, all he had to do was believe.  
  
Surely they wouldn't let him kill her?  
  
Someone would notice. They had to. He raised the knife, poised it close to her throat and prepared it for the final strike it would make. He paused, giving the person that was sure to stop him a moment more. He wavered indecisively, knowing that she would be gone forever. Could he deal with that?  
  
He sighed quietly and pushed his thoughts out of his head. Time to do what he had to do. The knife still trembled, poised above her throat. A single slash would be all it took, and she would be dead before she awoke. He could do it, it would be simple.  
  
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If it were so simple, why was he having so much trouble doing it? Sure, he could talk about it all day, but that didn't mean it was going to happen. His anger at his own weakness grew, and he used it to fuel his determination. This was something that had to be done, and he would do it.  
  
He raised the dagger slightly higher, and the slashed.  
  
Hitomi rolled sharply to her left, crying out in anguish as the knife missed its original target and sliced deeply into her shoulder instead."Damn." she heard her attacker curse softly. "WHO'S THERE!!!" she shrieked in a panic. "FJORK!!! FJORK HELP!!!"  
  
Her attacker froze before turning to run out of her room. Hitomi had forgotten her psychic powers, had forgotten she was a goddess at all. All she cared about was getting away, was saving herself. Tears of pain and fear were coursing down her cheeks, further inhibiting her mental eye. Had she had a clear mind about her, she would have reached for the aura of her attacker.  
  
She sobbed into her pillow, making no effort to stem the blood flowing heavily from her right shoulder. Hiko burst into her room and earned a shrieking wail from Hitomi. "Hush girl, I'm not here to hurt you." he said sternly. "What happened?" Hitomi couldn't answer, the pain was too much. The knife had been soaked in a chemical. It felt as if liquid fire, or perhaps boiling mercury, was spreading through her shoulder. She could feel the heat, the flames, and the torturous, acidic ashes it left behind as it devoured her alive. She had to tell Hiko, and yet, the words wouldn't come out.  
  
Hiko teleported the remaining distance to Hitomi's bedside. Someone had slashed her pretty well, but from the angle evidently slashing was not what the attacker had had in mind. He searched for something to slow the blood flow, she was losing too much too fast. Hitomi's screams of pain confused him. He knew it must hurt, but he was not used to such strong reactions to simple evasive action. Hitomi herself had been slashed before for Pete's sake!  
  
"Che-che--CHEMICAL!" Hitomi gasped.  
  
Hiko stood stunned. Someone had used a chemical? That wasn't good...not good at all. "Stay here, what am I saying, of course you'll stay here, what am I going on about, Hiko you're so stupid, stupid, stupid!"  
  
Hitomi sobbed. That brought Hiko to his senses. If he didn't do something, and soon, Hitomi would lose consciousness, and all traces of her attacker would be gone, for he was sure they'd have taken that precaution. He teleported to the Medical Examining room. "Flewrind!!!!!!!!!" He roared.  
  
A short, eccentric, and slightly pudgy looking man appeared before him. "What do YOU want?" he drawled. His defiant demeanor was usually accepted with impatient tolerance by Hiko -- after all, he had been alone most his life -- but not today. "FLEWRIND I HAVEN'T GOT TIME! HITOMI'S BEEN ATTACKED!!!"  
  
"Oh my that's the third one tonight...it seems the Others are busy tonight." Flewrind remarked, quickly gathering his essential devices together and preparing to teleport after Hiko. "Ready?" He asked. Hiko regarded the doctor's slightly squashed face skeptically. "And away we go!" Flewrind disappeared, leaving Hiko glaring heatedly at the spot he had just been occupying. "I hope he got the room right this time." he growled.  
  
Hiko teleported to Hitomi's room. She whimpered from her bed. Hiko sighed. The idiot had gotten the wrong room again. "Hitomi, it's Hiko." he said. "Flewrind will be here shortly."  
  
'If he ever decides to teleport to the correct room.' his mind added dryly.  
  
~^~^~  
  
Fjork slammed his hand against the wall of his room, uncaring of the disturbance he was causing. He'd wanted someone to stop him, to do just what Hitomi had done herself, but why did it have to be her?! Had she seen him?! THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!!!  
  
He paced his room frantically.  
  
If she had seen him, would she turn him in?  
  
He cursed himself for adding the chemical to the knife, for he could only imagine the pain she was in now. It was used to speed up her blood flow, but since he had missed, she would be feeling the other effect it had also: the burning fire. She would be consumed alive by her belief that it was consuming her alive!  
  
Any minute now, any minute now the Voyridal would come for him. Then it was over. His life would be over forever. He wouldn't even get to explain, not once they found out he was one of the others. What disgusted him was that though he'd wanted badly to be caught, a part of him was gleeful that he hadn't been. Subconsciously he'd WANTED to hurt Hitomi...and it was tearing him apart.  
  
~^~^~^~  
  
A/N: The only author's notes I have is to say...I GOT A PUPPY YAY!  
  
CurlsOfSerenity: Eeek! Well, I'm afraid this chapter may end up shorter than the last one, I really don't know, because I'm writing these responses before I actually finish the chapter. Ya, I know, I should be working on the chapter, but right now the emotional roller coaster I'm about to send them all on is killing me. In other words...I'm stalling. Believe it or not, it hurts me just as much to WRITE this stuff as it hurts you guys to READ it. *sigh*  
  
dark-luv-dove: SURE! Actually...I'm not sure...hehe. Well, that's a lot of stuff to go on an ice cream, if only I had some Ice cream...-_-;;;;...I don't. YAY! YOU WIN THE LONGEST REVIEW AWARD!  
  
kenshinzgurl: Yes, I did update, and by the time you read this I will have updated TWICE! OOOOOH!  
  
Tigereyes9: *grins evilly* I can't tell you right now whether he will or not, but if the chapter goes as I'm wanting it to...hehe you might know a little...*shrug* or not. I don't know, I haven't written the chapter.  
  
Falling_from_the_sky: *beams as a result of hug* YAY I GOT A HUG! Even though dark-luv-dove got the longest review award, you get the 'Made HCT Feel the Specialest' award. *sigh* I understand if you need more, but I'm really at sort of a loss here...you could give me a little prod in a direction that looks profitable from your position, or you...could not. NO MORE BLACKMAIL YAY!!! *sulks* Can I have my teddy bear now?  
  
smorsel01: Hehe, thanks for the review, and If I do have time, I'll be sure to check that story out...*rolls eyes but grins nonetheless at Smorsel01's cheesy smile*  
  
koishii-glory: GEEZ YOU'RE SO LAZY! I HATE YOU I HATE--Wait a minute...you're one of my reviewers aren't you? AHHH! JUST KIDDING I DIDN'T MEAN IT DON'T LEAVE! NOOOOO! *Throws self at koishii-glory's feet* Gomen...*smiles* No question! YAY...but...nothing for me to answer! DARN!  
  
Shaolin and Amakakeru: NOOOOOOO! UPDATE NOW! *GRRRR* You really think my story is good? I'm seriously having doubts here...Dude, don't torture your reviewers simply cause of MY writer's block. GEEZ GROW SOME CONSIDERATION! YOU'RE SO...hehe I'm kidding I hope you know....  
  
Playing In Traffic: Why haven't you updated any of your stories?? Am I going to have to kick your butt into high gear again? Come on, I really want to know what happens in your pool story, it's really funny, and btw, I still hate you for seeing the entire series...I HATE YOU SO MUCH! DO YOU SEE THIS?!!! MY EYES ARE GREEN WITH ENVY AND HATE! *shows eyes that are just as brown as they normally are* 


	16. Moving On and Moving Up

Chapter 16: Moving On and Moving Up  
  
A/N: Well, It's me again. I've finally updated! YES! Anyhow, there's not much I can say, except sorry and I'm glad you've all stuck with me so far. I only need 17 reviews to get 100, and I want you all to know that every single one anyone has sent me has been read and pondered and...whatever else I did with them. I love all you guys so much, and I could stop writing right now and be very happy with myself and the response my writing has gotten so far. BUT, the show must go on. So, here's the much anticipated and much awaited 16th chapter of Against All Hope!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Rk, but I DO own Hitomi, Fjork, and Flewrind. Oh and the ideas and situations I've put the characters in are mine to claim. So I do claim them. RIGHT NOW. MINE!  
  
~*~*~  
  
*CRASH!*  
  
'Breakfast-time again.' Kenshin thought. After the last episode he'd had, something had finally clicked inside him. He knew he couldn't just kill himself and get it over with; he had much too much to live for. The scene unfolding before him only proved his point more. Sano held Yahiko in a headlock while Kaoru pounded the both of them with her bokken, screaming "THIS IS KENSHIN'S FIRST BREAKFAST AND LOOK HOW INSENSITIVE YOU ALL ARE BEING YOU IDIOTS!!!!"  
  
After a particularly large whomp, Sano let go of Yahiko and rubbed the back of his head gingerly. "Ow Jou-chan...you don't have to be so brutish all the time." he groaned. "MOU?! BRUTISH!? I'LL SHOW YOU BRUTISH YOU POMPOUS FREE-LOADER!" And with that Sano receive several more large steaming bumps on top of his head. A large vein popped out of Kaoru's head; her breath came heavily in short gasps and growls.  
  
Kenshin smiled. For the first time in a long time he smiled a real smile. It wasn't just a smile for making someone else happy; it was a smile of true happiness. He didn't need his mother, whether she be alive or no. He was happy the way it was...well almost. "Kaoru-dono?"  
  
Kaoru stopped mauling Sano at the sound of Kenshin's colorful voice. "Hai Kenshin?" "Would you like to take a walk with sessha de gozaru yo?"  
  
Kaoru nearly gasped. Was Kenshin asking her to walk with him? 'No, that's only what he said...Kaoru no baka.' she thought. Putting on her happiest and brightest smile she grinned at him. "Sure!"  
  
Now that Kenshin had actually said something about GOING somewhere with Kaoru, he was having second thoughts. He knew someone with sins as great as his could never be worthy of someone as pure as Kaoru, but he loved her so much! Surely it couldn't be wrong for him to love her...now it was just a matter of did she love him back.  
  
But...what if she didn't?  
  
Kenshin felt a surge of timidity. He berated himself fervently, but couldn't get rid of it. He knew she loved him, it was evident in her beautiful sapphire eyes when she asked him to "Please pass the sushi..." or "Would you like some more wasabi, Kenshin?"  
  
He knew what her eyes were really asking him...  
  
"Will you ever care enough to love me?"  
  
"Can I ever earn your love?"  
  
"Do you feel the same as me?"  
  
"Does this feeling eat you alive, like it does me?"  
  
It pained Kenshin to see such anguish in her eyes when time after time he had perhaps a little less than obliviously avoided her questions. He had known how she felt; he had known and hadn't done a thing about it. He knew he should rot in hell for the things he'd done in his life, but somehow this seemed the worst of all of them. The look in her eyes pained him more than seeing Tomoe's bloody body lying in the snow, more than watching himself slaughter victim after victim during the Revolution.  
  
So he must get rid of it.  
  
He was over the pain his memories had brought with them; he was over the self-doubt, the self-loathing. It was time to move on, and the only forward he could see, no, that he would ALLOW himself to see, had Kaoru in it. He was going to do this, and he would do it right.  
  
"After breakfast, ok Kaoru?" Kenshin asked. Sano and Yahiko had resumed their bickering, but Kenshin didn't mind at all. He had eyes only for Kaoru. He looked up from his miso soup to see Kaoru staring at him, a wondrous look of hope and disbelief in her eyes, misting her eyes with crystalline sparkles of love.  
  
"Hai..." she said quietly, shyly almost. Kenshin grinned at her. This would be their first date, whether she knew it or not. He knew he couldn't simply propose to her without warning, too much at once would likely cause the girl to faint! Not that he doubted Kaoru's strength...but he knew how much she could handle. He'd push her limits to take her this far.  
  
'I'm going walking...with Kenshin...like...a real date...' Kaoru blushed at the mere thought. 'Silly...it's not a date...Kenshin would never do something that spontaneous.' she sighed. 'Oh but I can dream can't I?' Kaoru stood. "I'm finished with breakfast, I'm going to..." she trailed off, realizing how silly it would sound if she said she were "going to get ready" to go walking. Even though that WAS what she was going to do. "I'm going to change clothes." she finished lamely.  
  
Sano grinned smugly to himself. This could get interesting.  
  
Kaoru left the room and Kenshin stood. "If you two are finished," he said, gesturing to Sano and Yahiko's empty plates, "would you mind helping sessha by carrying these to the kitchen?" Sano groaned. Housework! "Kenshin, when are you going to realize that MEN aren't SUPPOSED to do this kind of thing?!" Sano muttered under his breath. "When YOU learn that you're supposed to PAY people for food." Kenshin hissed back. "WHY I--yeah you're right." Sano shrugged.  
  
Yahiko remained blissfully unaware of anything. "What?"  
  
Kenshin shook his head. "Nothing Yahiko, but would you mind doing sessha a favor and taking your dishes to the kitchen?" "Sure Kenshin!" Yahiko chirped, just as happy as ever to do something to aid such a great swordsman. Kenshin chuckled to himself. He could tell the kid to jump off a bridge and he would, not that Kenshin would ever ask Yahiko to do something that mundane.  
  
Kaoru sat indecisive in her room. What to wear! Amid the sea of kimonos, obis, and even hair ribbons, she sighed. 'Well let's see...' she thought to herself. 'Kenshin's gi is magenta...so...that means pink is out...or is it? Yes, I don't feel very pink today.' Kaoru set the pink kimono aside. The remaining kimonos were deep blue, light orange, buttercup yellow, and jade green.  
  
Kaoru peeked outside. The sky shone brightly; the wind made the flowers quiver ever so slightly. 'Orange is an ugly color.' she thought, tossing the orange kimono to rest beside the pink one. 'Blue is for rainy days or night.' The blue kimono now rested with the orange and pink kimonos. 'I wear this yellow one all the time...' she thought. 'So I guess that leaves the green one...but I don't want to wear that one!'  
  
Kaoru let out a cry of frustration. She would never be able to decide! Kenshin was just too perfect, too...Kenshin. A walk with him warranted something special. What did she have that was special...  
  
Kaoru thought hard for about 30 seconds, then it hit her. She'd put one kimono away a long time ago, and had never worn it in Kenshin's presence. Now would be a good time to bust it out of confinement. She didn't even remember why she'd put it away in the first place.  
  
Kaoru pulled the precious golden kimono from her chest. It was just as beautiful as it had always been. She grinned. Wouldn't Kenshin be surprised! She quickly dressed and realized she was faced with another decision. The kimono had it's own obi, so she hadn't had to worry about that. She'd tied the silk, cerulean ribbon in an ornate fashion, so it had taken care of itself. But what color ribbon would she wear?  
  
Frustrated, Kaoru spread all her ribbons out and closed her eyes. She waved her hand over the ribbons vigorously, and just as she started to pick one, a deep voice startled her near out of her wits. "Indecisive?"  
  
She let out a small yelp of surprise before opening her eyes. She stared uncertainly at the looming figure before her. "H-hiko?" she said incredulously. "In the flesh!" Hiko chuckled. "Just wear the silver one." he said, his amusement evident. "But I don't have a sil-" Kaoru noticed the shimmering silver ribbon under her hand. When had it gotten there? She glanced back up, only to find Hiko gone.  
  
"How strange..." she murmured, fixing the beautiful ribbon in her hair. She stood and examined herself in her mirror. "Well, I suppose I look presentable." she sighed before walking out of her room.  
  
Meanwhile, Kenshin had finished the dishes and was on his way to Kaoru's room to see if she were ready yet. He already knew she wasn't, but it would give him an excuse to see her. He smiled to himself at the glorious day Kami had provided for him to commence his courtship. He found himself daydreaming and then suddenly...there was an angel in front of him.  
  
"Oh! Hi...Kenshin..." Kaoru said shyly, a slight blush spreading across her cheeks. Why was he staring at her like that? Did he not like her outfit? Kenshin was speechless. He had never seen anyone look more beautiful in his entire life, not even Tomoe could rival Kaoru's beauty. He knew he was staring, but heaven help him, he couldn't tear his eyes from her. The golden kimono seemed to ignite a certain spark within her, as if she were liquid fire racing through his very veins. The blue of her obi was almost the exact shade of her eyes, and the silk made it seem alive, fluid. Finally he tore his eyes from her to notice she had a new hair ribbon. Her ebony tresses were contrasting sharply with the shimmering silver of her ribbon. Where had she gotten such a prize?  
  
Kenshin found himself wondering what would happen should he REMOVE that hair ribbon. He couldn't stand to see her hair confined so, not when he knew what it looked like free. He wanted, oh he wanted so much, but he could have...not just yet. He knew things would be better should he wait, and wait he would. Finally breaking free of his reverie, he made eye contact. His eyes must have said what he'd left unspoken, for Kaoru broke into a bright smile.  
  
"Wow..." he said. Then he grinned. "May sessha assist the lady on her early morning stroll?" he offered his arm. Kaoru beamed. "Hai, my bodyguard be none other than the feared hitokiri Himura Battousai!" she put on an evil smirk with the words 'Himura Battousai', to imply that Battousai vastly enjoyed his evil endeavors. Kenshin grinned, choosing to take the reference to his past as playful flirting.  
  
"The mighty Himura will thwart fate for his lady, that he will! Back down inevitability! Make way for Kaoru, but don't touch her, lest the Battousai grind your hands through his portable meat-grinder!" Kenshin brandished his sword. The reverse edge gleamed in the early sunlight. "Oh my..." Kaoru said, wide-eyed. "I do believe that man just eyed me rather lewdly..." she gasped out, pointing to an overgrown bush near the dojo gate.  
  
Kenshin gasped. "Foul fiend! How dare ye set your filthy eyes on the woman of Battousai! Feel his wrath, taste his blade, fear him! FEEEEAR HIM!"  
  
Kaoru collapsed with helpless giggles. 'Who knew Kenshin had such a sense of humor...and I think I like being called his woman...' She giggled slightly as she walked out of the dojo, Kenshin at her side. He whistled merrily, some old Japanese folk song that she didn't know. Restraining her winces (A/N: Remember you guys, Kenshin is not the most musical person you know.) she contented herself with being near the one she loved.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"There she goes." Mercury whispered to his partner. "Yes, she seems to be the Battousai's woman all right. We have our orders remember. No time to play with the little lady." Orion reminded. "Orion, you always have had the most perverse mind." Mercury sighed. "Shall we do this the easy way or not?"  
  
Orion thought briefly. "Well, the easiest way will ideally have the least risk, and I know your taste for risk Mercury, so please do remember that our hostage must be returned to Others HQ by midnight or the illusion will be broken. A sacrifice must be made to keep our sanctuary hidden. Please be sure that she doesn't get exploded or hacked to bits if you would."  
  
Mercury frowned. "Sometimes it's a curse to know someone so well." he grumbled. "So we go the BORING way." he growled, putting special emphasis on BORING, to really bring his point home. He checked to see where the couple was, steeled himself and then Kaoru was looking very frightened in his arms. "...w-wh-who are you?!" she croaked. Orion sighed. "We, my dear lady, are your ticket to another world."  
  
"KENSHIN!"  
  
~*~*~  
  
Kenshin stopped. He felt another ki, a strong, battle-worn ki...and yet unlike any other he'd felt before. It was far superior to his own, even that of Battousai's. He reached his hand out to pull Kaoru back, but before his very eyes she vanished. "Kaoru!" he cried, but his voice was lost in the vacuum of sudden air. His eyes blinked amber as he spun in a circle, but he felt no ki anywhere. The strong, other ki had also vanished.  
  
To his right, a slightly muffled cry arose: "KENSHIN!"  
  
He leaped into action, drawing his sword and hacking the shrubbery to pieces in one swift movement, only to find...  
  
Nothing.  
  
He bent to the ground. He was not as good a tracker as Saitoh, but one of a hitokiri's many required abilities was the ability to track. He found slight signs of a brief scuffle, and then two marks that puzzled him very much. They were deep indentions in the ground, like someone had dug four deep trenches very quickly. The leaves remaining around the trenches were scorched and curled; the scorches were new, for they still smelled of fire.  
  
Despite these signs, he found no reason why his Kaoru was gone. He walked back to the clearing and found two similar scorch marks, but no Kaoru. He knew something was going on, and he was willing to bet anything that it wasn't something good.  
  
~*~*~  
  
A/N: WOOHOO! All done! I'll see you guys later, lemme know what you think about this chapter! It didn't take me that long to write once I got started, and I think I can keep going. I gave myself initiative. Yay!  
  
Shaolin And Amakakeru: Thank you for thinking my story is good, and I'm sorry I couldn't update sooner. I'm pretty sure you know what I mean when I say I got a BAD case of writer's block. Thank goodness I got rid of it!  
  
Falling_from_the_sky: *sigh* Well, Fjork is one messed up little dude. At first, he was supposed to be the good guy. Oh well that went out the window. You were supposed to hate Hitomi at first; it was a necessary thing to make the surprise of her being Kenshin's mother...more surprising. And Chapter 14 was supposed to make you underestimate Fjork's dedication to the Others. Despite what he says, and feels, he keeps staying with them because he believes that eventually it will be for the best...and because he can't get out. In his own way, Fjork is A LOT like Kenshin. Yay! You gave me my teddy back! I couldn't sleep for a week! *scowls* ^-^ But now he's back and I'm happy yay! *sigh* Don't you just wish that sometime you could just...*closes eyes and wishes Kenshin was hers* *waits 5 minutes to see if it worked* *opens eyes and...Kenshin is still not hers* Darn! But wouldn't that be cool! You said you had imaginary RK plushies, well I have to hand this over to you...*hands over miniature but amazingly life-like Battousai plushy* Can anyone say SEXY?  
  
Brittanie Love: Glad you like, sorry I kept you waiting so long. Hopefully you stick with me!  
  
Aoshi'sgirl: *sigh* Alas, this is the question I feared I would get the most. Fjork is basically brainwashing himself with what he once believed is right. He thinks that the Others will correct what the Gods and Goddesses are doing wrong, when in fact the Others are just as bad if not worse. He is their hired assassin, and he has no choice but to do what they say, under the threat that if he doesn't everyone he knows will die, including himself. He's a confused individual; remember his life was very messed up. The only mother he ever had he eventually fell in love with and...*sigh* I'm confusing myself.  
  
Sofa-chan: Yes, Fjork is really odd and kinda evil. He can't help it though. He's misunderstood and confused. Oh well, maybe things will get better. It seems that everyone wants him to be a good guy. 


	17. The Mould Broken?

Chapter 17: The Mould Broken?  
  
A/N: Well, woohoo! Author's Notes! I might have to come back and add to these, cause I'm not sure what exactly is going to happen in this chapter. I find out as I write. I never have a plan...well yeah I do but not usually anything specific. *sigh* I'll find out I suppose.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own RK, but I claim my ideas. Yay.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Kenshin glared at the ground before him, as if it were the object hiding his Kaoru from him. No, she had been taken, and it was his fault. Had he not just been thinking that openly declaring her 'Battousai's woman' would cause her to be in danger constantly? YES, but NOOOO, he'd thought he could protect her! And now she was gone again, and it was his fault. But he would find her. And he would find her soon, for the destructive thoughts running through his mind warned him of Battousai's new awakening...it wouldn't take much to set him off.  
  
But who had taken her? And where? The only clues were the scorch marks...how was he supposed to find them with that? 'This vandal was particularly skilled.' Kenshin thought, scowling openly. Then he stood. He did the only thing he could do...look for her.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Orion and Mercury have arrived with the prisoner, sire." The short man blinked his bright yellow eyes at his superior.  
  
"And she fares well I hope. I told Orion that if Mercury botched this one it would be his head. Orion isn't stupid, he wouldn't let Mercury do something rash." The tall, muscular God chuckled merrily. "Those two may be irritating sometimes, but they are the best kidnappers this guild has!" Snae grinned over his cup of early evening coffee.  
  
"Well, the sacrifice must be made. I don't understand why you entertained the notion that this girl will change anything though..." "You of all people should know my reasons." Snae quirked an eyebrow. "Yes, you are right, of course."  
  
"Kai...things are going very well. The sacrifice will be held until Battousai arrives, then she will be slaughtered. With everything binding him to Earth gone, Battousai will undoubtedly join our forces. And then we will be in control, or rather, we will gain MORE control as the Battousai mutilates each branch leader, starting with the Voyridal." Snae narrowed his eyes and rubbed his hands together gleefully. "You may bring the prisoner to me now." He continued, turning to Kai, who he had forgotten in his spirited vendetta.  
  
"Very well." Kai left quickly, turning down the hallway and hurrying away to do his leader's bidding. Snae waited with great patience, the glory of the entire situation tranforming his usual impatience into slightly more patient patience. After all, most here knew not to keep him waiting.  
  
After ten minutes, he wondered what was going on.  
  
After thirty, he decided to find out himself.  
  
He grabbed his cane, conveniently placed near the door in case of such circumstances, and hobble-stepped out the door. He stopped once outside and concentrated. His dark black hair began to fade; soon it was grey. His frame bent more, and wrinkles lined his worried face. He then set off down the hall. He wasn't lame, but if something were up, then who would suspect the hobbling, old, lame man to be the leader of the rebel forces?  
  
Snae paused for a second at the first corner, altering his appearance back to normal. He'd just hobble...there was no need for such drama. He took on the same appearance he'd had since birth; tall, muscular, deep green eyes that looked through you before at you, as if seeing everything about you before even asking, tanned skin and slender build. If something big were up, he'd know by now.  
  
The hallways were deathly quiet, but Snae could hear shouting down one of the corridors. Silently, almost as if absorbing the dark emptiness of the hallway, Snae tottered towards the disturbance. Nearing the end of the hall, the voices were more easily distinguishable. Snae heard Kai's voice, some other guard he wasn't familiar with, and...  
  
He paused listening carefully. 'That sounds like Raen...' he thought incredulously. He walked around the corner, abandoning the limp but still holding the cane. A sharp crack on the head earned a surprised yelp from the rebel leader and several gasps from Kai and the other guard. "How dare you strike the leader!" Kai growled.  
  
Rubbing the rising knot, Snae peered through watery eyes at his hitherto unseen adversary. He blinked several times, trying to decide if he had been hit THAT hard or...or if he was really staring at what he thought he was. The woman's ebony tresses were slightly disheveled, and the angry look in her sapphire eyes could have nailed them all to the wall were her eyes daggers. In her hair was a silver ribbon; her golden kimono had been ripped on one side, apparently to accomodate more efficient movement.  
  
Her chest heaved slightly from the exertion; she held her weapon in a lethal deathgrip. Four men lay to one side with either large knots on their heads or limbs bent at a painfully unnatural angle. "Who are you and why have you kidnapped me?!" the woman growled. Snae couldn't help but stare. Was it--could it really be his Raen?  
  
He stared into her eyes, searching for answers he didn't have. She glanced at him before looking away at Kai, who was slowly but surely advancing. "Back away!" she shouted, turning her weapon--a broken broomstick--towards him. She turned back to Snae to find him staring at her still. Her eyes widened into an innocently bewildered look. Snae knew that look.  
  
"What is your name?" he asked gently, his voice holding more mellowness than either Kai or the other guard had ever heard him use, certainly with a prisoner. The woman bristled, not wanting to let her guard down simply because of his possibly gentility. "Kaoru." she said proudly, lifting her chin defiantly. "And I want to go home. NOW."  
  
"I'm sorry, but we can't let you do that..." Snae continued, just as gently as before. Whether she admit it or not, Kaoru was slowly warming to this man...he seemed like someone she could trust in this hellhole of a prison. Snae relaxed his body. In order for this to work he must be totally relaxed. He calmed his nerves and reached out with his mind, seeking the force he knew would be there. Kaoru watched him close his eyes and instantly became distrustful. What was going on?  
  
Snae felt for Kaoru's mind waves. He knew her name, and already felt a semi- attachment to her. She shouldn't be that hard to control. Kai and the guard instinctively covered their ears. The only other time they had seen this, Snae had let loose an ear-splitting mental roar. But then again, that had been to purge them of the pestilence of Raiders. Still...  
  
Kaoru glanced around. Everything seemed to be spinning slightly, as if she'd been dumped ingraciously onto a spinning merry-go-round. Her mind was fuzzy; she couldn't think. What was she doing here again? "You will come with me please, Kaoru." Snae replied, walking along.  
  
Kaoru didn't budge. Who was he to tell her what to do? Snippets of memory floated to her, reminding her that this was in fact a bad guy. "I don't think so." she said uncertainly. Snae stopped. Resistance? This he hadn't expected. Maybe from the Battousai...but not this woman. Kaoru waded through the muddy waters of her mind, finally reconnecting the memory of how to use her sword skills. She swung the broken broomstick in a vicious arc towards Snae's knees.  
  
And in a split second her broomstick exploded into a billion tiny splinters.  
  
Kaoru shielded her eyes with her arm, but a few of the splinters nicked her cheek, leaving minute trails of red to slightly marr her perfect features. Snae made a small noise in his throat, protesting this injustice. He approached her, intent on wiping away the few dribblets of blood on her cheek, but she backed away. "No..." she whispered pitifully. Snae kept his advance slow and measured. No need to frighten her, soon enough she would be his...  
  
Kaoru sensed the evil, predatory gleam in Snae's eyes and turned to run. Kai and the other guard could do nothing but stare as she bolted past them. "CATCH HER!" Snae roared in anger. His patience had worn thin. Kai and the other guard jumped up. "Yes sir!" and with that they gave chase.  
  
Kaoru ran. She wasn't sure where she was running, or where she COULD run, but she was running. At least she was free this time...no one could stop her. Once she got outside...once she got outside she would figure out where she was. Then she would get back to the dojo, and back to Kenshin and...maybe he would never--no there was no way he wouldn't notice. 'Is he worried about me?' Kaoru couldn't help but wonder. She got so caught up in her thoughts that she forgot to watch where she was running.  
  
She plowed right into the man before she even noticed he was there. Not that she could have avoided him, for his purpose was to stop her. She struggled briefly, but when she'd ran into him, he'd successfully administered the drug. She was out cold in less than 10 seconds. He stood, cradling the unconscious Kaoru in his arms as if she were porcelain.  
  
"What should I do with her, Snae?"  
  
"Bring her here, I'll deal with her...Gods above, is that YOU Fjork?!"  
  
~*~*~  
  
A/N: Ok yeah so It's not REALLY a cliffhanger...but still. It was fun to write so get over it. Just so you guys will know, I will explain more about Snae and Raen in further chapters...so don't get a bee in your bonnet. Have fun waiting for the next chapter! ^-^  
  
Shaolin and Amakakeru: Glad you STILL like it! ^-^ Don't know what I'd do without reviewers like you! WOOHOO! I updated soon, hopefully soon enough! *sigh* I read your story, and it didn't seem as if you were going through too bad of a writer's block. Dude, if any of you read these besides who they're for, you should read Shaolin and Amakakeru's story "Avenging Stars"  
  
Brittanie Love: COOLNESS! I'm glad you liked my chapter! I strive for reality lol. Well tata for now, see ya next chapter! Hopefully that is...  
  
Warrior_Of_Silence: hehe, I updated soon! HOPEFULLY SOON ENOUGH! DON'T EAT ME AHHHHHHHH! I feel frightened...*cringes in corner* 


	18. Crossing the Language Barrier

Chapter 18: Skipping the Language Barrier  
  
A/N: Yay I'm writing at school! *sigh* the old pencil to paper technique. And now I'm at a loss. Well, not really but I'm trying to keep from rambling so yeah. Well, as of now I need 9 reviews 'til the 100 review mark! Oh I am SO excited! Yeah, I know that 100 isn't really that many, but you guys have no idea how much it really means to me. *sigh* My entire future depends on my ability to write and inspire...well my ideal future. *uncertain look* Yay...and on that note...off to the story!  
  
Disclaimer: Has anyone noticed that Cartoon Network is seriously wacked? I say it's a good thing that they don't own RK any more than I do. And I don't.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Hitomi...Hitomi, wake up...come on..."  
  
Hitomi nudged the voice aside. There was no time for her to listen; she was busy trying to escape. She waded through turbid waters, trying to sort things out. The sludge was trapping her in her own mind! She shrank from the light tickling at the edge of her senses.  
  
Eventually she realized this light was her way out, and before she could even reach for it, she was out. She shot bolt upright, gasping for air as if she'd drowned and never had the chance to draw a final breath."Whoa now...calm down Hitomi dear..." a gentle voice soothed. "I-I can't see..." she murmured anxiously.  
  
"It's just an after-effect of the drug. It should wear off shortly. How is your shoulder?" Hitomi now recognized the voice as that of Flewrind. She flexed her shoulder; testing the muscles, tensing and relaxing, stretching tendons and ligaments. No pain remained though her shoulder had suffered a severe wound. "It FEELS fine." she answered, her voice stronger and more assured now.  
  
"Good." Flewrind said, nodding to himself. "Can you see anything yet?" Hitomi paused searching for a light, for something, for anything. On the very edge of her vision, she saw a fuzzy grayness. "Oh! I see gray!" she said excitedly, clapping her hands and giggling as she bounced happily. Flewrind smiled, glad he could make her happy when she'd just been almost assassinated by someone they still hadn't caught.  
  
Then came the question he knew was on its way. "...do you know who attacked me yet?" Hitomi asked quietly, looking at the blurred image of Flewrind. Flewrind lowered his head. "Not yet Hitomi...Hiko reckons you should take Fjork and head out to Earth." "WHAT?! EARTH!!!" Hitomi shouted, nearly falling off the examining table. "Yes Earth...isn't there someone you wanted to see there anyhow?"  
  
Hitomi blushed. 'Shinta...' she thought.  
  
Soon afterwards, Hitomi could see plainly again and her shoulder was mostly healed, so Flewrind allowed her to go roam the terrarrium. She unknowingly sat under the same tree which Fjork had pondered his 'love' for her. She soon found herself wondering about Shinta.  
  
He was all grown up now...what was he REALLY like? All she knew was that somehow during Japan's Revolution he had become a hitokiri. But he wasn't anymore, right? He couldn't be, or he wouldn't have a family.  
  
Family. She liked the sound of that. Sighing, she played with the grass under her fingers. She wished now that she could just stay on Earth, but she knew her place was here. Here, among the gods and goddesses WAS where she belonged. It didn't matter to them that she had once loved a human, and that made it much easier to accept the fact that he was dead now. "Cholera..." she said aloud, picking up a small stick. It really was amazing how fragile life was...as fragile as the twig she held between her thumb and index finger.  
  
Hitomi scowled and snapped the twig. Curse life.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Fjork grimaced. Had he really changed that much? He sighed and carefully carried Kaoru over to Snae. "What will you do with her?" he asked quietly. Snae glared at Fjork. "That's none of your business!" Fjork flinched. Evidently the leader was not in the best of moods today. Perhaps it could have to do with the large knot atop his head. "What happened to your head?" he smirked, his haughty arrogance shining through finally.  
  
Snae cautioned himself not to lose his temper. Though only slightly taller than he, Fjork could easily slaughter him where he stood without even dropping the woman. And the woman was all that mattered. Snae frowned. "She hit me."  
  
Fjork doubled up with hysterical laughter. Snae could control his temper only so far, but to allow Fjork to laugh at him!? That was too far! His subjects would laugh at him! "Fjork. Did you finish your assignment?" Snae spat at the out-of-control assassin. Fjork became serious in an instant, staring down on the unconscious Kaoru. She was beautiful in her own way, he supposed. Her beauty to him was dim, but after all he'd lived in the world of Goddesses all his life.  
  
"No I did not." he said proudly.  
  
Snae gasped. Did Fjork dare defy him as his tone implied or was it simple arrogance that colored his tone?! He stalked over to the assassin and stared into his eyes. The emotions there were tightly held in check, but Fjork purposefully let his loathing of the creature before run wild. Snae grinned a tight, tersely grim smile of mock satisfaction and took Kaoru from Fjork with his mind. Well he tried anyhow. Fjork delighted himself for several minutes in refusing to relinquish control of his prisoner. At last he gazed down at her peaceful features.  
  
"I captured her, thus she is mine, correct?"  
  
Snae virtually exploded with anger. He had within his reaches a worthy substitute for his Raen and this man, this sorry excuse for a God was demanding HIS right to her! How absurd! How utterly unacceptable! HOW was he going to get her from him?  
  
He knew Fjork was stronger than he, that much was obvious from his inability to wrest Kaoru from his grip. If he so wanted, he could take her by political force, but it would mean belittling himself in front of his inferiors. Fjork knew he wouldn't do that, for a smug smile asserted itself on his features. Snae scoffed. "Take her then. I have no use for the Battousai's wench."  
  
Fjork's ego crowed. He had bested Snae once again! He gleefully brought Kaoru to, for the only thing holding her in her comatose state was the whims of his mind. He beamed at her as she surfaced from her sleep. "Hello Mis--" he was brutally cut off as she viciously socked him in the jaw.  
  
Fjork sighed. "I suppose I deserved that..."he said, carefully rotating his jaw to see if she'd damaged anything. Nothing seemed broken, though he'd bet anything that there'd be a doozy of a bruise tomorrow. Wouldn't he get teased over that! Oh well...he'd worry about tomorrow tomorrow.  
  
He regretted his vehemence in stealing Kaoru from Snae. He really had nowhere to put her, and if Snae sent him on another mission--Fjork scowled at the thought of another kill by his hands--if Snae sent him on another mission he most certainly would have to put a bond on her. Which he didn't really want to do. Though bonds could be broken with enough spirit, they left their mark on the unwitting victim. Sighing he resigned himself to what he had to do. He reached for Kaoru's hand, determined to lead her to his quarters. She gave him a furious glare and jerked her hand away.  
  
Fjork quirked his eyebrow. 'Fiery little spirit she's got there. I see why the Battousai likes her.' he thought. He eventually gave up and looked her in the eye. "Will you follow me?" he asked her. She stared at him blankly. He stared back at her before shaking his head in understanding. He closed his eyes for a minute, and suddenly Kaoru understood what everyone around her was saying. "AH!" she exclaimed in surprise. Fjork grinned. "Sudden change isn't it?"  
  
"Who are you?" she nailed him to the wall with unspoken questions. "And where is Kenshin?" Fjork sighed. It was not going to be easy to tell her she'd been kidnapped by the Others in order to keep them hidden from view of the leaders of the Plane. It wasn't a feat even the Battousai could be trusted with. He grimaced. "Uh...well...that bad guy? 'Member him?" Fjork said to her. She glared at him for speaking down to her. "Yes I remember him."  
  
"He kidnapped you."  
  
"Oh, I knew that already. But where is Kenshin and WHY exactly have you kidnapped me?"  
  
Fjork broke into a grim smile. He wouldn't want to be there when she found out. The roof would probably explode! And preferably he could get Kaoru out before Snae realized what he was doing and tried to stop him. Battousai would be happy. And Snae would be angry. Gooooooood.  
  
~*~*~  
  
A/N: Well that chapter went a whole lot of nowhere. LOL. Well now you know more about Fjork's status as assassin. But I still haven't decided what I want him to be, good or evil. You all should tell me in your reviews. I NEED TO KNOW! *jumps up and down* GEEEZ. I can make him go either way, but I think I'll go with the majority. SO, that means you need to review and let me know what you think! WOOHOO!  
  
aprun: Thanks for liking! Woohoo! Snae is suprised to see Fjork because all the things Fjork has been doing is wearing on him, plus the fact that Snae hadn't expected himback for a few days. *sigh* well maybe Fjork just wanted to make Snae mad. Most likely.  
  
Brittanie Love: Glad to hear you loved the chapter! Here, see where it's going!  
  
Shaolin and Amakakeru: Glad to hear you STILL like my story! I love making people happy! Seems I did a good job this time! ^-^  
  
Falling_from_the_sky: Don't feel lame. I understnd how FF.Net can be sometimes. yeah It's quite...WITCHY sometimes. Hehe, yes Snae already annoys me. Fjork will have to kill him somehow. How do you prefer? Live disembowelment? That would be fun to write! ^-^ Anyhow, keep up the reviewing!  
  
Brownie-luving Icee-chan: I'm sorry...why are you confused??? 


	19. A Mixture of Three Fates

Chapter 19- A Mixture of Three Fates  
  
A/N: Sorry to all you guys for making you wait so long. I've started another story that just popped into my head one day. I like it a lot, so after this story is over I may not write anymore until it is finished. It's all up to you guys. If after I post this there is like, mass panic and confusion and people are committing suicide because their TV's won't turn on, then maybe they should get the remote, and the other people just need to calm themselves. There is a possibility that I might have to have knee surgery, which I've heard is painful, and I don't wanna...I don't wanna at all! I'm afraid of surgery!!! But then again...perhaps surgery is better than the frickin' sticks (crutches) I've been lugging around. GOD I hate those. But still...I'm afraid. ANYHOW, I want to know now, would you guys want a sequel? Or what...what do YOU want to happen? I know half of you aren't going to read this, but I don't care. As for me, I probably WON'T write a sequel...but if majority says yay, then yay it is. Wow...I am one weird little person. Ok, you know you've officially crossed the weirdness barrier when ALL your personalities agree that we scare me. AH! I mean...Read the chapter?  
  
Disclaimer: We-she-I! Do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Hm...it's been a while since I typed THAT.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Kenshin stomped to his room in the dojo. "What's eatin' him?" Sano said quietly to Yahiko. "Dunno." Yahiko answered, chowing through the leftover tofu. Sano turned thoughtfully to the brooding Kenshin. 'Something's not right.' he said to himself. 'Something is NOT right.'  
  
Kenshin crashed around his room, looking, searching, NEEDING what he had to find. Through his drawers, behind his chest, inside his trunks, he looked EVERYWHERE. "What did I do with that damn sword?" he growled. He knew he wasn't thinking clearly; he could feel the bad thoughts muddling his mind. Searching through another trunk only to come up empty-handed once again, Kenshin inadvertantly took all his anger and frustration out on the trunk. "DAMN YOU!" he screamed, punching the trunk with all his might. The trunk exploded into a million pieces, and Kenshin--and his bloody knuckles--was astounded to see the sword lying in the rubble.  
  
"I searched there already." he grumbled.  
  
He grabbed the sword out of the debris of his old trunk and sat moodily on his futon, staring at the sheathe. Finally he scowled and pulled the sword from its hiding place. The katana glistened with an evil glint in the dim evening dusklight. 'Still sharp.' he noted with a smirk. 'This blade never rusts, though it absorbed the blood of so many. And it will absorb the blood of Kaoru's kidnapper with much greed.' he thought. Sano walked quietly to the door of Kenshin's room, wondering what all the commotion was about.  
  
From within he heard these terrifying words, "This time...the Battousai's back for good." "NO!" Sano burst into the room, only to find the very fine honed edge of a very real, very sharp, very exact opposite of reverse-blade sword at his throat. His eyes widened as the breeze of displaced air whistled by his head. Another inch and Kenshin would have taken his head off! Sano took a deep breath and glanced down, careful not to move his head. He swallowed when his almond eyes met the ungiving amber ice. "Kenshin?"  
  
Kenshin scowled at him before lowering his sword and sitting back on his futon, filled with almost teenage-like angst. Sano stared at the man he used to know but hadn't ever figured out. "The Kenshin I know would never have done something like that." he said. "The Kenshin you know is gone." Kenshin spat. Sano looked up sadly. "I wish I didn't believe you. But I saw the look in your eyes just then. Whatever happened to her must have been bad, huh?" Kenshin tensed.This bloke would never understand. Kaoru had been kidnapped right out from under his nose! He was too weak like this! What everyone said was true...he couldn't NOT be a manslayer anymore.  
  
The not-so-easy task of admitting that to himself over, Kenshin relaxed. "Sano..." he said, his demeanor reverting to the rurouni's kind actions. "I hope you can forgive me...but I can't do this anymore. Sessha is too weak, too weak to even protect that that means most to him, that he is, and he will do anything to fix that. He must. I must. We will." Kenshin stared deep into the eyes of his best friend. Sano looked away. The voice was Kenshin's, but the cold eyes staring him down belonged to the hitokiri,which had remained until now a long displaced memento of a past unsuccessfully forgotten. "Kenshin...I don't understand. I know I don't, and I can't even begin to fathom your reasoning, but I really have no choice but to accept it. I do forgive you, because I can imagine what it would be like, to lose what I love. It would drive me absolutely insane, knowing that at any minute someone could be at her throat. I just want you to know...you don't have to do this."  
  
Kenshin closed his eyes. "You're right. You don't understand. Sano...if I don't do this Kaoru will die. She may not now, or anytime soon, but eventually she will die because of my incomptence. AND IT WILL BE MY FAULT. I don't want that. I'm willing to put everything I believe aside for her. She will not die because of me!" Kenshin stood, glaring at Sano. "Ok, ok...I understand." Sano lied. "Just tell me one thing." he said pleadingly. Kenshin sighed and tried to relax his trembling body. "What?" he said, almost tiredly. "Was everything you ever told me a lie? All the things about how you didn't have to be something you didn't want to be, all the talks about being a better man, helping people instead of hurting them...were they true?" Kenshin blinked his cold eyes, and Sano was surprised their frigidity didn't freeze them to his skull. Kenshin stared at Sano for almost an eternity before finally replying. "I don't know anymore."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Kaoru wondered at the sheer vastness of the Others HQ. "This place is HUGE!" she exclaimed to Fjork as they strolled along under a giant suspended aquarium. A giant, vibrant purple fish was happily swimming among various blue and pink plants. An almost transparent white angelfish hid behind the teal coral. Kaoru found she couldn't get enough of these awesome creatures. "Where do you get them all?" she asked breathlessly. Fjork chuckled. "Most of them are all figments of our imaginations. We think them into existence, so to say. What you see in that aquarium is the manifestation of what YOUR mind would have in that aquarium. What do you see?" he asked, genuinely curious. Kaoru stared up at the fish her own mind had created. Did that mean...Kaoru smirked. The fish in the aquarium twisted and twirled together, and then in the purple fish's place, there was a playful dolphin. Kaoru gasped in surprise and wonder. "A...dolphin!" she cried joyously.  
  
Fjork grinned boyishly. "A girl of true class." he remarked. And then to Kaoru's astonishment and glee, before her very eyes tiny pieces of glass began assembling themselves into a pair of playful dolphins. When the assembly came to a halt, the two dolphins began to frolick, their tails whipping and fins shining as they danced about gaily. Kaoru clapped her hands and laughed. "How wonderful!" Fjork smiled. "They're yours." He could see why Hitomi had fallen in love with a human. They were so easy to please.  
  
"Kaoru, we must get you back to Earth."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Hitomi readied herself for the long teleportation to Earth. It would take several minutes, and if anyone disturbed her...she would die. She knew that she wasn't in the safest of places, not with a killer having been in her room the very night before, but she knew she had to get out. She was going to Earth, no matter what. There was only one way for her to get there though. She must have a firm grip on the mind of the individual she was going to visit, in this case Kenshin. "That shouldn't be too hard." she smiled and closed her eyes.  
  
If only she had kept them open.  
  
If they had been open, she would have seen the figure sneaking up behind her. She would have known that she would never make the teleportation. And she would have known that if she tried, Kenshin's mind would be ripped to shreds.  
  
But unfortunately, she didn't keep them open. And she didn't see the figure.  
  
~*~*~  
  
A/N: Well...It's kind of a cliff-hanger...*shrug* I dunno. I like it. I'm trying to get you guys a chapter out there, and I think I've finally hit my inspiration. WOOHOO! Anyhow, I have to go work on homework now lol. Talk to you guys later! Let me know about the sequel in your reviews!  
  
Shaolin 10: Sorry I didn't update like I be supposed to. *sigh* Oh well! ^- ^ Enjoy my chapter, for bad things are to come. BAD things. Yeah, sorry but i don't know about anonymous reviewers...*sigh* Too bad about them saying they were bad, I'm sure they were just on crack.  
  
DarkShadowHuntress: WOW! IT'S SCARY HOW MUCH WE ARE ALIKE! LOL! I have a best friend that is almost exactly lik--no actually she's the exact opposite of me lol. But we finish each others sentences and know what the other is saying before they say it and sometimes we can tell what we are thinking and yeah we can freak our friends out. That is fun.*gasps* I HAVE GIR'S DOOM SONG ON MY COMPUTER! *does happy dance* WE'RE ALL ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY! THEY WILL DANCE FOR US! *grins* Glad to hear you like it, and I hope you're right about my future. I want to be a writer so badly, but I'm not sure I can make it. *sigh* u.u  
  
Brownie-luving Icee-chan: Lol, SUGAR IS A GOOD THING!  
  
Falling_from_the_sky: Hey! Oh believe me, bad, bad, bad murderous scenes are to come. I fear for my characters! Actualyl, I know relatively what all Bad I'm going to do to them. *grins* It scares me. 


	20. Ripped Apart by Fate's Cruel Messenger

Chapter 20: Ripped Apart by Faith's Cruel Messenger  
  
A/N: Well, I finally started it. I've been here at my dad's for a while-- nearly a week--and Thank GOD, I found my writing again. It recently left me staring dumbly at the computer screen while trying to think. And that, my friends, is something I never want to happen again but I'm sure it will. So, I've gotten my general idea back into my head, and I'm working on this next chapter like a wildfire works on clearing a forest. Ok, so it was a corny analogy, give me a break ok? OHOH! Looky! I got a new ring! *shows ring* Isn't it beautiful?? *laughs* Oh, you can't see it. Too bad.  
  
Disclaimer: You know, I look back at my story, and I see all the torment and torture I would put the poor characters through, and if I wasn't careful, I wouldn't HAVE any characters left, So, I'm GLAD that I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. *twitches* Ok, so Maybe I lied and I'm NOT so glad, but still!  
  
~*~*~  
  
Kenshin sat, remaining broodily silent, on his futon where he'd stood before. Sano stared at him, watching the awesome power of the manslayer cover the gentility he'd known as the rurouni. He couldn't believe that Kenshin was willing to give up on his beliefs! He was giving up on everything he'd ever told Sano to believe in! "What do you mean you DON'T KNOW?! You mean to tell me that all these days, NO! All these MONTHS you've LIED to me?!!" Sano stood, his anguish evident in his eyes. "Sano, no I--" "SHUT UP!" Sano roared, continuing his frustrated tirade.  
  
"If you lied to me about who I am, about who YOU are, about why you LIVE, what else have you lie--" "I won't say anything next time. Shut up and sit down." Kenshin intoned softly. Sano started towards him, fists clenched in his anger. "Don't push me, I beg of you. I'd rather not have more blood than I can handle on my hands this day." Kenshin spat, glaring at the advancing Sano. Sano caught sight of the glare and froze in his tracks, for the glance coming out of them was more than just the Battousai. It was fear itself, nasty and evil and oh so terrifying.  
  
"Why you little--" Sano started.  
  
"You little what? What are you going to do about my feelings?! You wanna be like me?! YOU WANT TO BE A COLD-BLOODED KILLER THAT CAN'T SLEEP FOR THE LIVES HE'S TAKEN AND THE BLOOD HE'S SPILLED? A KILLER THAT CAN HARDLY PASS SOMEONE ON THE STREET WITHOUT WONDERING IF THEY'RE GOING TO COME BACK AND TRY TO KILL WHAT'S MOST PRECIOUS TO HIM? A MAN WITH A LIFE SO BLOODY THAT NOTHING CAN EVER CLEAN IT?! YOU WANT TO BE A KILLER?! THEN BY THE GOD'S ABOVE, BE ONE!!!!" Kenshin finally lost his calm composure and stood, towering above the seated Sano although he wasn't much taller.  
  
His hand gripped his sword in an almost inhuman grip. His eyes before had remained calm in their icy glare, but now they glittered with an animal lack of control. But then, as Sano watched, those awful amber eyes flickered and faded, and Kenshin's limp body collapsed to the ground.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Hitomi's concentration shattered as she was brutally shoved from behind. She cried out in agony as her mind ripped away from Kenshin, and it only hurt more that she felt his mind crumble under the strain. She raised her hands to her head, trying to stop the smashing, squashing, awful crushing pain. She couldn't think; she couldn't breathe; she couldn't do anything but lie in her agonizingly ravaged mind.  
  
At last she opened her eyes, wishing to catch a glimpse of her attacker. A glimpse she did catch, but that was all, for she clamped her eyes shut again as the light pierced her mind, tearing and ripping and blinding even though it was extremely dim. She curled onto her side, writhing through the bitter torture her mind most likely wasn't going to pull out of. Her attacker kicked her exposed back viciously, causing Hitomi to reflexively unroll, but her body registered no pain from the kick, for her mind was too ravaged by anguish and separation.  
  
"Get up you filthy baggage!" the voice shouted coldly, and her intense pain only magnified the shout. She whimpered at attempted to roll over again. "NO!" the voice screamed, and another vicious kick connected with her ribcage. She hardly flinched as three of her ribs snapped and broke away inside of her, but the voice sent her into fits of agony; screaming and wailing and crying she fought him. Her prohibited her rolling; she couldn't escape from her awful state.  
  
After what seemed a millennia, she would see through the red mist throbbing about her eyes, and she gazed up at her attacker. Recognition flitted across her face before she cried out as her mind was assaulted. ~Oh Dearest Hitomi, do I hurt you that badly?~ Came the smug voice of her attacker through his torture. ~Snae.~ she whispered. ~Yes my dearest, 'tis me. You must surely be more careful next time you teleport, for--oh wait, I don't suppose there will BE a next time, now will there?~ he laughed menacingly. ~For you, my sweet, shall not live to see the end of this day.~  
  
Hitomi screamed and clawed at her head, desperate to rid her mind of the horrible voice that told her such evil things. ~Leave me! Leave my mind!~ she wailed in despair. Each word forced from her mind only bore the pain more intense. ~Leave you? Now why would I ever do a thing like that? You know as well as I do that I'm not here to make you feel good. No, I'm here to make sure you NEVER feel good again. And I want to tell you a little secret about your dahling Fjork.~ the voice teased.  
  
Even through her pain Hitomi tensed. ~Fjork?~ her question echoed. The voice answered her not. She knew she didn't have enough strength for much more telepathic communication, so she said it not again. Finally, Snae responded. ~Your little angel has been quite devilish in choosing his companions.~  
  
Hitomi winced and closed her eyes slowly, struggling to maintain her composure through her pain. She swallowed, and even the sounds of her body grew too loud for her to bear. "Kill me...just kill me. Please, Snae...I beg of you, just kill me...end this torture." she whispered, her deep blue eyes peering at his wildly. "I don't want to know." Snae's glory was etched all over his features. He bent over Hitomi, reveling in her labored breathing. "But Hitomi...you must know." She sobbed, and Snae smiled. ~Does it bother you to know, that your very own Fjork last night tried to kill you? Dearest Hitomi, don't blame me...I'm just here to finish the job.~  
  
~*~*~  
  
When Fjork collapsed to the ground, screaming and clutching his head, Kaoru hadn't known WHAT to do. She'd knelt at his side, gently touching his exposed temple. He'd gone rigid, and before he went totally limp, a single message had echoed through her mind. ~Find the Voyridal.~ She'd waited beside him for a few minutes, searching for a twitch or a sniff, something that would let her know he was ok. When she touched him again, he was already cold and stiff with death.  
  
She now ran through the misty, humid plain--away from Others HQ. Within minutes, she made it to the gate of the realm. The two watchguards stood upon her hasty arrival. "I must see the Voyridal." she commanded, and so authorative was her demand that the guards didn't even take her disheveled appearance or her humanity into consideration. One grabbed her wrist, and then, they stood behind the Voyridal.  
  
"Hiko?!" Kaoru exclaimed in disbelief. Hiko turned suddenly, as if they'd surprised him. "Kaoru. So it's been set into motion then." Hiko said. "Begging you pardon?" Kaoru said uncertainly. "Hiko turned to the guard that had brought Kaoru. "Fjork is dead, and Hitomi soon will be. I must get this lad back to Earth. Prepare to march on the Others." "Yes, Voyridal." the guard said, and before Kaoru could blink, he was gone.  
  
She slowly backed away as Hiko approached. "What are you people?" she asked quietly. "Oh, come now. Surely my baka deshi's woman doesn't back down now. Or did my idiot rurouni choose a chicken instead of a woman?" Hiko said, completely ignoring her question. Kaoru stomped indignantly. "I am NOT a chicken! And I'm not--" she stopped, remembering that Kenshin had attempted- -and very nearly succeeded--in taking his own life for...her. So she WAS Kenshin's woman. Kaoru smiled. "I suppose I am Kenshin's woman. And I don't think I mind at all..."  
  
~*~*~  
  
A/N: WOOHOO! FINISHED A CHAPTER! *beams proudly* Oh I love being me. Lol, just kidding. Actually, no i'm not kidding. Woops I forgot to capitalize that I...oh well. I'm going to post this now, so I hope you like it even though it IS short. I feel so sorry for my characters. *sigh* Now to the review responses.  
  
Shaolin10: WOOHOO! It's New Years Eve, and I'm writing to thank you for reviewing and to say HAPPY 2004! Gosh, it's hard to believe the year has gone by so quickly. I did leave off at a cliffhanger, but I don't think I did this time...*shrug*  
  
DarkShadowHuntress: HEY! Glad to hear you liked it! Lol, glad to hear you like my sn, now don't go sneaking onto your mom's sn and talking to insane authors like me! MUAHAHAH! Lol, j/k. Hope to talk to you sometime soon, I'm back from my dad's tonight, which means I can TALK to people online instead of just email. *sigh*  
  
stoictimer: Lol, thanks for reading. Yes, I did want Kenshin to be oblivious to plans being made concerning him, because if he knew, well he'd just kick ass and take names, ya know what I mean? He wouldn't just stand by. Oh well, keep reading! 


	21. Death and Denial

A/N: I don't know how this story is going to turn out. I just want to get that out there, so you guys know. I have possible endings running through my mind, and I'm not sure which one I'm going to use. I've been thinking about this for some time, that's why I haven't updated in so long, and I decided just to go with it. So, I don't know. I still need to know if you guys want a sequel, although I know that you can't really decide until I end it. Which I think will be soon. After I end this, I don't know if I'll be writing anything for a while. Unless I get a really good idea. Just wanted to let you all know what's up, I'm going to see what comes out of my fingers now!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own RK, but all the other ideas and characters are mine.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Sano ran to the fallen rurouni. Kenshin's usually cold amber eyes were lifeless and staring; his breath was shallow and barely there. Sano felt for a pulse. He hadn't been around Megumi all this time to pick up nothing. He knew what to do, if he could figure out what was wrong. Sano found the pulse; it was irregular and fading. He had no clue what was wrong. Kenshin had just collapsed! The ex-fighter for hire picked up his former best friend and carried him back to the futon. He made sure he was covered by many blankets and that his head was elevated before standing to walk out the door: he needed Megumi. He looked back from the shoji. Kenshin's dull eyes stared silently, sorrowfully, painfully, at the ceiling.  
  
Sano closed his eyes and turned away. For once, couldn't fate just leave Kenshin alone? He bit back a tear, though he would never admit it, and walked towards the kitchen. Yahiko was still in there, doing dishes. Sano stepped inside to see the young samuari humming to himself. "Yahiko, keep an eye on Kenshin for me ok? I'm going to get Megumi." Sano left without waiting to see if the headstrong youngster would protest.  
  
Inside the room, Kenshin's blank eyes began to fade.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Hiko turned to Kaoru. "What are you doing here?!" he demanded once they were alone. Kaoru stared back at him defiantly. "I didn't CHOOSE to come here, I was kidnapped." she retorted, her voice recalcitrant. Hiko sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Snae." he said quietly. "Come, Kaoru. I fear if we do not leave now we will not be able to for some time." he walked towards a door Kaoru hadn't noticed until now. She followed him, not voicing the questions that flooded her mind.  
  
He pushed open the door and strode into the hallway. She followed him, wondering at the beauty in everything around them. Hiko listened momentarily. "Hitomi is dea-- No. She isn't..." he stopped walking. He knew even if he were to save Hitomi from Snae, she would die anyhow. He started walking again. "Come, let's go Kaoru." he picked the slight girl up and slung her over his shoulder. He cast his mind down to Kenshin's dojo, his teleportation too advanced to need a latch. He sat Kaoru down outside Kenshin's room. "I believe you should go in there..." he said softly. "I can't go with you."  
  
Kaoru turned to look at the man she'd never imagined was half of what he was now. "I'm afraid." she said, her voice quavering. "Fear is what happens when you let your cowardice overcome your will to triumph." Hiko said. "Now, go in there. Hurry." Kaoru nodded and rushed inside.  
  
An anguished wail burst from his room.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Kenshin..." Kaoru whispered tearfully. From her kneeling position at the door, she could see the mask of death quickly approaching his face. "No..." she whispered. Her voice was rough from supressed tears. A single sob escaped. She crawled towards him, each shuddering step only confirming what she dreaded to see. She watched, helpless, as his chest drew one labored breath after the other, each time more shallow than the last.  
  
Kenshin's eyes didn't blink this time. Her breath caught. They always blinked. It might take a minute, but they always blinked. No matter what had happened before to Kenshin, he'd always blinked his eyes, looked at her then did his classic "oro!". Kaoru stared at his eyes, hoping for the impossible. The cold, amber eyes didn't blink. "No...I-it's not possible..." she sobbed, flinging herself over him in anguish. Her Kenshin couldn't possibly be...no, she refused to even THINK that word. "Kenshin..." she whispered, shaking his limp, cold shoulder weakly. "Kenshin, wake up...it's time for-" a sob ripped from her throat, pausing her words. "It's time for...breakfast." the last word came out as a sob as she clutched Kenshin's gi to her face, sobbing into it as Kenshin's body got colder, and colder...  
  
Her ear on his chest sought in vain for the slightest trace of a heartbeat. Nothing. More tears flowed from the seemingly endless fountain in her eyes. "Kenshin...I never told you..." her body caught and she shuddered a bit. "I love you Kenshin...I love you..." she whispered, her watery azure eyes searching for some answer in his lifeless ones. She suddenly realized her confession was too late. He would never hear her words. The finality situation of her hopelessness struck her, leaving her feeling numb and empty. Was this what it felt like to lose part of yourself? She swallowed, her lip and chin trembling as her body went cold. He was gone...forever.  
  
~*~*~  
  
A/N: Well...that was an accident. I swear. I didn't mean to. But it's over. There will be no more. 


	22. Epilogue

A/N: Now, how many of you thought I would leave you like this? I must write a epilouge. (Mostly because I reread the ending and agree that something has to happen. It also helps to have inspiration for the first time since...about chapter 17 LOL.) Anyhow, let's get on to the writing with less talking, ne?  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. None of it. I swear.  
  
  
  
Some time later  
  
In the time that Kenshin had been gone, many things had happened. Kaoru, having been treated early on for chronic depression, was finally beginning to get over the sadness of his passing and start moving on. The strangest thing had happened the day after Kenshin died, however. Upon arriving in his room to prepare the body for the final rest, Megumi had discovered it gone. Kaoru, however, had not been told this.  
  
Sano now lived in the dojo, at first it had been to keep Kaoru from doing something disastrous to herself, but now because he felt it was necessary. One never knew when another one of those dreams would cast Kaoru into depression again. As of now, he was, as usual, doing absolutely nothing. Well except for watching Kaoru do the laundry, and Yahiko prancing about the dojo, proudly sporting his bokken on his back and declaring for all to know that he'd graduated to the next level of Kamiya Kasshin.  
  
Up in the other plane, things were as usual, Hitomi and Fjork were forgotten weeks after their passing, and everything was back to normal. Well almost. Hiko had forgone his position as Voyridal, ceding it to a younger, less-weathered psychic in favor of returning to Kyoto. He now lived in his small cottage, blissfully alone and unbothered. Usually.  
  
But right now, he was being bothered.  
  
A hooded figure knocked on his door, their manner urgent and hurried. "Hiko, please open the door." a voice called. Inside the cottage, Hiko readied his usual response, "Go away, I don't need any clothes detergent!", but something about the way the voice plucked at his conscious mind halted the words in his mouth. He knew that voice...  
  
"I need a 'port."  
  
Hiko was on his feet and out the door immediately. "Where." Try as he might, Hiko couldn't penetrate the disguise cloaking the indiviual. Whoever this was, they knew his real identity. He knew who the voice sounded like...but it couldn't be!  
  
"The Kamiya Dojo."  
  
  
  
Kaoru sighed. Laundry was bad. She'd grown to hate it, first because it was the thing that Kenshin had done, second because it was so mind-numbingly boring! She supposed that to one who'd spent a good portion of their life killing people, it had seemed relaxing. But to her, Kaoru of the Kamiya Dojo, who had never killed anyone, it was boring. She caught Sano staring at her and stuck her tongue out at him. She was in an especially good mood today, and she really didn't know why if it wasn't for the nagging feeling that something wonderful was about to happen.  
  
Someone was coming.  
  
She just knew it. Company always promised happiness, and Kaoru turned over who it would be in her mind. As always, her first through was Kenshin, but she cautioned herself that he wouldn't be coming back, that he was gone away for a very, very long time. She even managed to do it without the prick of tears in her eyes! She smiled, proud of herself for the first time in forever. Maybe it was Misao.  
  
Sano grinned to himself, watching a smile bloom across Kaoru's face. Kenshin had always loved her smile. Yahiko, still parading around, noticed nothing, that is until someone knocked on the dojo gate. "Kaoru?" Hiko called. "Let us in!" Yahiko was at the gate in an instant.  
  
"I graduated to the next level of Kamiya Kasshin!" he said proudly, thrusting his chest out. Hiko regarded the young boy with a critical eye, taking in his appearance. After a minute he patted him on the head. "Congratulations." he then pushed by him, a mysterious cloaked figure behind.  
  
Kaoru stopped in her laundry. The blood drained from her face as her eyes locked with those inside the hood of the cloak. She shakily stood, her eyes wide and brimming with tears.  
  
Sano was on his feet instantly, scanning for danger. "Who is that, Hiko!?" he demanded, very uneasy about the cloaked figure. Hiko paused, looking at Sano. "That is...a very old friend of both of ours." he said, smiling.  
  
The figure brought up both hands and pulled the hood of the cloak down. First thing to spring into evidence was flaming red hair. Next was a familiar cross-shaped scar, and third was beautiful violet eyes. "Ken...shin?" Kaoru whispered. It couldn't be! He...he died...  
  
"Kaoru." he said softly.  
  
That was all he needed to say. Kaoru took of across the dojo at a sprint, desparate to get to him. He met her half-way, wrapping her in his arms. "You have no idea how I've missed you, Kaoru." he whispered. "Yes Kenshin, yes I do." she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Where were you?"  
  
Kenshin pulled back from her for a bit.  
  
"Yes, that is a question I have been wondering myself. Please inform us why even the Gods said you were dead." Hiko said.  
  
"That is a question for sitting." Kenshin said, pulling Kaoru towards the open dojo door.  
  
Once inside and seated, all concerned waiting anxiously for where their rurouni friend had been hiding. Finally, he began to speak and tell his story.  
  
"My mother, Hitomi, was a great goddess of Psychics." he explained. "Much as Hiko, my adoptive father once my real father passed on. I inherited her godlike speed, and the uncanny ability to change my eye color in battle. In a last-ditch attempt to contact me, she tried to teleport under the influence of a mind-wraith, Snae. He had also kidnapped Kaoru and killed Hitomi's love, Fjork. In attempting to teleport, she destroyed a link between my mind and hers. The resulting trauma is what nearly killed me."  
  
Kenshin paused to think.  
  
"I don't remember much about the next following days, but I remember extreme pain, a pain that couldn't be extinguished from the outside. I knew that by staying here, at the dojo, I would, and terribly soon, I might add, go insane. The incident had left me blinded, as well as unable to think very clearly. I left, and soon after Megumi discovered that my body was gone. She told no one, which was very fortunate for me. Because the knowledge of my missing body was contained in one mind, a very logical mind at that, one that knew beyond all shadow of hope that I was gone, it became reality to the gods. They could not see me through her eyes, because to her I was gone."  
  
"For many months I wandered the wilderness, trying to remember who I was, what I was, where I was...it all seemed the same. I began wearing that cloak because people who met me seemed less afraid if I did. It all puzzled me very much, until a came upon, by chance, an unmarked grave stone in the bleak wilderness. I laid my hand upon it, and in an instant, my memories were back with a painful intensity. I had found my father's grave. Hitomi had bestowed a blessing of hers upon it many years before, and this shock of other worldy presence jolted my overwhelmed mind back into remembering. I knew I had to get back. By this time, rumors that I was dead were sweeping the land, and I chose not to prove them wrong by continuing to wear my cloak."  
  
"As I said before, it also made people less afraid. In time, after journeying many miles, I arrived at Hiko's door, and from there...the rest of the story you know." Kenshin finished with a smile.  
  
"I overcame death to get back to you once, Kaoru, why shouldn't I do it again?"  
  
  
  
A/N: THIS IS THE REAL END! beams - You all knew I wouldn't leave you like that! 


End file.
